Tripple Terror
by SomeTaters
Summary: When an Ancient devise turns Sheppard, Teyla, and Ronon into children, McKay is left to babysit. However, when the transformation has adverse effects, Mckay must figure out how to get his friends back to normal before its too late. S3.
1. Underground

**Disclaimer:** Want it, need it, but don't own it. All this Stargate stuff (unforunately) belongs to MGM studios and such, whatever.

**A/N:** My other story "FaLL oUT" doesn't seem to be too popular so I've decided to write this and update it while finishing "FaLL oUT" on the sidelines before posting the rest of its chapters. Okie doke? Oh yeah, got the inspiration from a drawing on DeviantArt by Calcitrix titled "Uncle Rodney". =P Well… go look at it already!

P.S. I'm gonna try one of my early writing styles =P I think I get a little too serious w/my writing sometimes.

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::-:SGA:-::

**TRIPLE TERROR**

_By Sandy Toes_

::-:SGA:-::

**Chapter 1: Underground  
**

The silence of the darkness was suddenly broken with the sound of a heavy door sliding aside. Instantly, three small, white beams pierced the black of the room and cut through the heavy air with ease. They traced along the walls of the room, giving the three explorers a vague impression of what was inside. Although the picture was incomplete, they deemed it safe and a fourth, brighter light joined those that danced along the wall.

"Well this is certainly different," McKay's voice echoed in the darkness, the room obviously being much bigger than they had predicted. At the echoing quality of the scientists voice, the three small lights danced a little faster along the walls and ended up pointing in one direction where they could no longer reach solid mass and disappeared a short way into the darkness.

"Yeah, why didn't everything come on when I entered?" Sheppard asked, his eyes slowly adjusting to the lighting and scanning the area before him. "I thought this place was Ancient."

"It is!" McKay hissed, his much brighter light stuck on the wall of the room, searching up and down along the patterns of the Ancient markings, looking for a panel to pop open.

"Perhaps the power source has been depleted," Teyla offered, moving a bit away from Sheppard.

"Or maybe someone sabotaged this place before leaving," Ronon grunted from the darkness. He had attached a light to the end of his own gun when they were back on the jumper, but upon entering the room had removed the nuisance, realizing it made it hard to aim. Now all that was visible of the Satedan was the red glow of his own sidearm.

"Hmm, I don't think so," McKay said. The scientist had just found a panel and was prying off the cover from the wall. "There wasn't much in the database about this place, but the Ancients," McKay grunted as he pulled off the panel completely, "emphasized that this place was crucial to the survival of the planet's inhabitants. Gotcha!" McKay had shone his light into the array of crystals and wires and immediately got to work.

"Well it didn't do a very good job," Sheppard now moved closer to McKay, his P-90 lowered as he walked up behind his friend. "There's nothing living up top and this is the only structure underground."

"At least the only one we are aware of," Teyla said. "The database did not offer much, and the information is over ten-thousand years old. Many things have changed since then."

"You saying someone could be living down here?" Ronon asked, backing up towards his teammates at the unsettling implication.

"It is a possibility. I doubt the Genii are the only civilization to have migrated underground in order to escape the Wraith."

Sheppard looked away from McKay for a moment, "Teyla's right. We best be on our guard." Ronon grunted in agreement and they heard his gun power up. Whether or not he had set it to stun or kill was unanswered.

"Ah ha!" McKay exclaimed from his panel, and the others looked to him. "Now all I have to do is… presto!" There was a small clink and the room was instantly brightened. However, the primary lights within the small space that the team occupied were not the only lights to be activated. There was the sound of industrial lights coming on as row after row of large, luminescent lights continued to brighten up the facility.

"Wow," Sheppard exclaimed, turning around at the sound and looking out into the rest of the facility.

Bringing light into the room ultimately eliminated the dark and enlightened the humans as to what was exactly held beneath the earth. Currently, the Lanteans stood on a small balcony with control consoles all around them, although only a few were lit up and sending out readings. In the middle of the balcony there were three pedestals facing each other in a triangle. Each pedestal had two dimly lit ovals on a small panel (obviously for someone's hands) and a circle etched into the metal at their base where someone would most likely stand.

Although the balcony was small and encompassed by stone, a part of it rounded out into the main part of the facility. Just standing at the railing of the balcony, Sheppard was able to see that the facility went on for probably miles under ground. The balcony was located only a couple meters from the ceiling of the facility, so one had a sense of superiority as they looked over the city fifty feet below them. Stretching out from the balcony were buildings and roads that formed an underground city. The homes were apartment like, although some seemed to be for wealthier families as they had what could be interpreted as a yard.

Roads separated the metal structures and it appeared that homes were on the outskirts of the large city, as further down the roads ran along large skyscraper-like buildings. Sheppard could barely make out green patches were dirt had obviously been brought in from above and plants grew for nutrition. There was no sign of life, and the air was eerie as the team stood there, looking out into the ghost town.

"Amazing," Teyla whispered, stepping up beside the colonel, whom had moved to the edge of the balcony.

"Yeah," Ronon grunted, standing a little ways away from McKay protectively. His sidearm was still unsheathed, learning long ago that just because something looked dead did not mean it was always so. "You think anyone's still living here?"

"If they are," McKay finally chimed in, only giving the city a glance before dropping his rucksack and pulling out his laptop to interface with one of the consoles, "they've been living in darkness for a very long time. It doesn't look the lights have been used much since the Ancients left this place." McKay plugged his computer into one of the consoles and immediately got to work in deciphering the importance of the information before him.

Ronon took a look at the door they entered through, the long hallways they had traveled down were now also illuminated, before concluding it was safe for the moment and stepping over to Sheppard to Teyla.

"I don't think we can get down there," Sheppard commented, looking over the railing and scanning the surface of the stone for stairs or a transporter. "We might have to use the climbing gear."

"Jumper would be easier," Ronon said, he too looking for any hint of stairs.

"Would it not be difficult to the get the jumper down here? I do not think those hallways are large enough," Teyla said, turning away from the railing and staring at the two men.

Sheppard shrugged and his eyes followed along the ceiling right above them. "Maybe there's a hidden door that lets them in. I mean this place was built by the Ancients and I doubt they walked everywhere. No sign of transports, so jumper's the only logical way to get around."

"Yes, well I don't think we're meant to get down there from here anyway," McKay called over from his console. The others looked at him. When he motioned for them to come over, they followed and watched as they stared down into the tablet reading off the data. "I've managed to get some information on this place, although I'm not completely certain what it's for yet. Apparently, they housed the people from the surface down here to protect them from the Wraith. When they realized the Wraith weren't so easily fooled, they did something to distract them. It doesn't exactly what, but the computer's having trouble translating all of the data. I think someone was right to suspect someone sabotaged this. Or at least, tried to hide what they were doing."

McKay turned back to his team, his face momentarily grim, then another clicked into his mind and before anyone could comment he quickly stated, "However, I do know how we can access more of the systems. Apparently the Ancient's were careful to make sure that no Wraith could gain access to the information. So, they built those," McKay indicated the three pedestals with a wave of his hand.

"All we need is three humans, at least one with the Ancient gene, and hands!" McKay wriggled his own fingers and gave a look to his three teammates. They took the hint and began to move over to the pedestals. It wasn't that hard to figure out what to do and they stood within the circles on the floor and Teyla, Ronon, and Sheppard held their hands hovering over the ovals.

McKay turned back to his laptop and tapped a few commands in before returning to his friends. "Okay, now don't put down your hands until I say. Your palms will be scanned, which will be like entering a password, and the computers will open up. Hopefully, we'll get some Ancient intel."

Sheppard gave McKay a skeptical look, "Are you sure this is safe? I mean, what happens if it doesn't take our-"

"Don't worry, if something does go wrong I'm sure it's nothing I can't fix…" McKay held an optimistic smile on his face, which only worried Sheppard more. After all, McKay could get a little carried away when it came to gaining vital information. However, he supposed if it wasn't them, McKay would just come back with some eager scientist to power up the facility completely.

"Okay, everyone ready?" Sheppard asked, looking at Ronon (who looked like he couldn't really care) and Teyla, (who held a reassuring smile) whom both nodded at the man.

McKay rubbed his hands together excitedly, "Okay, now on three… 1...2...3!" Ronon, Teyla, and Sheppard all pressed their palms firmly against the ovals at the same. Immediately, the device reacted and circles beneath their feet lit up. McKay didn't have time to react as a flash of light swallowed up his friends and the scientist was momentarily blinded.

Rubbing his eyes once the light had subsided, McKay blinked a few times and finally abashed the small white circles that danced before his eyes. Looking up at the pedestals, McKay had to squint before his vision became clear and the objects before him were no longer fuzzy.

"Sheppard…?" McKay questioned, seeing that his friends were no longer standing at the panels. "John!" McKay tried again, straightening up and looking around frantically, but seeing no one on the balcony with him. Just as McKay was about to move to the railing (to make sure no one had been flung over board) there was another flash of light from the pedestals.

Feeling a bit relieved at the prospect that his friends had been returned to him, McKay soon felt a lump raise up into his heart and his throat, his blue eyes settling on the unconscious bodies lying at the base of the pedestals. "Oh I am so screwed."

::-:TBC:-::

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_Hope ya like it! Reviews are always appreciated, thanks for reading!_


	2. Hey Kiddies

**Disclaimer:** The usual V.V

**A/N:** Hehe, so happy! Anyway, thanks for reading and for the reviews! ^o^ Hope you enjoy this chapter!

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::-:SGA:-::

**Chapter 2: Hey Kiddies**

The first thing Sheppard noticed was not the dull pain of his headache, or the warm ground beneath him, nor was it the sounds of someone whimpering and pacing, but the shear lack of comprehension for what was going on. He couldn't recall what had just happened and he wasn't really sure where he was. However, one thing was certain, something had gone seriously wrong.

Finding his eyelids very heavy, Sheppard slowly tried to open them, his headache quickly rising to the front of his mind. Wincing as his vision was flooded with light, Sheppard managed to gasp out, "Rodney?" as the whimpering became more coherent and turned into panicked murmuring.

Instantly the murmuring stopped and Sheppard's vision went dark again as a figure crouched down in front of him. A shaky hand gripped his shoulder and gently pulled him into a sitting position. Sheppard felt dizzy and watched as the world spun about him and three McKay's wavered in his vision.

McKay looked worried, sweat breaking out across his brow, which was furrowed in anxiety.

"How do you feel?" McKay asked, his voice only confirming his uneasiness.

Sheppard squinted at his friend for a moment, before barely getting out, "Horrible." Sheppard's eyes widened, while McKay bit his lip, at the sound of his own voice. It was different, it was younger, it was… "What happened?!" Sheppard squawked out, his voice hitting notes he never thought possible.

McKay opened his mouth to explain, when Sheppard's headache hit him full force, a spike of pain racing through his body. Letting a small cry, Sheppard found he was unable to bare the brunt of the pain and felt his world The last thing he remembered was McKay reaching out to steady him and calling his name, "John." _John… yes, something was definitely wrong._

::-:Atlantis:-::

"I didn't know this would happen!"

"Well that's quite obvious Rodney, but the fact is it did happen."

"_I_ had no way of knowing what was going to happen besides what the computer told me! It was perfectly safe!"

"Aye, I believe you, but understand Rodney, they probably won't. Not only has their physical state been severely altered, but their mentality as well. They're quite literally children now!" There was a loud sigh and the voices continued on like this, even as his cloudy mind began to rise once again from the blessing of unconsciousness.

Scrunching up his face, Sheppard slowly opened his eyes, remembering how last time he had opened them too quickly. Surely enough, he was once again flooded with bright, florescent lights as soon as his two lids were apart. Wincing, Sheppard tried again and managed to blink away most of the light as the infirmary on Atlantis came into view.

"Hello John!" A young, happy voice filled his mind and Sheppard sat up and turned his head towards his right.

Also sitting up in the bed next to him, was a young girl that did not look much older than seven. Her skin was dark and her hair was short and a color that reminded him of caramel. Her face was happy and a small smile played across her lips as large, bright beautiful eyes looked upon him like they had been friends forever.

Realizing who his infirmary friend was, Sheppard gave a rather unsure smile, "Teyla…?" His voice was also young and child-like. This didn't bother him as much as it had on the planet, and Sheppard turned away from the girl for just a second as he glanced over his own body.

It seemed that he too held the body of a young boy, as his legs now only reached to the middle of the medical bed and his hands were smaller, more slender, and not as scared or as rough as he remembered.

"Are you okay?" the voice came back to Sheppard and he looked over at who he was not sure was Teyla.

"I think so… my head doesn't hurt no more," Sheppard said, not even realizing the innocent tone to his voice. "You okay?" He asked back, his own young eyes widening with concern for his friend.

Teyla pursed her lips and nodded a happy smile, her short hair bouncing with the movement. Sheppard gave Teyla a short nod, before his mind was elsewhere and he looked curiously around the infirmary. Even though he had seen everything many times, his young mind looked upon them in wonder and excitement.

Then the boy's eyes fell upon the owners of the arguing voices that had helped awake him from his sleep. McKay and Carson stood toe to toe, obviously trying to argue as quietly as possible but not managing it very well. Their backs were slightly turned towards the children and they huddled as their voices carried over through the infirmary.

"They've been fighting like that ever since I woke up," Teyla's voice caused Sheppard to snap his head back to look at his friend. At his questioning look, the girl continued, "Uncle Rodney is very, very upset and Uncle Carson isn't too happy either. They keep yelling and then getting all quiet, and then yelling… it woke me up, but I don't mind." Teyla lowered her look a little, as if embarrassed at the fact that she had seen the two men arguing over the situation.

Sheppard gave her a reassuring smile and the beds were close enough that he could reach out and put a small hand on her shoulder.

Leaning back to his own bed, Sheppard gave his "uncles" one more glance before asking, "Do you know what happened? I don't remember much." Sheppard put his lip out in a small pout and Teyla placed her finger on the edge of her chin as she looked up in consideration.

"Nopes! But I do remember Uncle Rodney mentioning somethin' abouts an Ancestral device that made us kids!" Teyla seemed overly proud of herself for remembering the information.

Sheppard allowed his smile to grow a bit, "Well good. I know McKay-"

"Call him Uncle Rodney! It shows respect, and my father always said to show respect to your elders."

For a moment, Sheppard gave Teyla an odd look before obviously deciding the girl was right. He shrugged and continued, "I know Uncle Rodney is the smartest man here! If anyones can fix us, he can!" Sheppard now held a confident smile and Teyla joined in. Then the boy thought of something, "Where's Ronon?"

Teyla hunched her shoulders a little when she giggled, then leaned back and pointed to the bed next to hers. Sheppard almost laughed as well when he saw his friend (now a young boy and his dreads only come down to his shoulders ) sleeping deeply in the medical bed, with a pile of trays next to him on the floor.

The Satedan's arm was draped across his stomach and his head was tilted back as loud snores erupted from the boy's mouth. Only one leg was under the blankets and the other stuck out unceremoniously as the other arm of the boy lay limply over the edge.

"Minute he woke up he was hungry, hee, I've never seen someone eat so much!" Teyla explained, holding back a fit of giggles as the image of her friend scarfing down the trays of food once again entered her mind.

Sheppard let out a little laugh of his own, his imagination greatly over exaggerating the picture of Ronon eating. "Yeah?! I bet the cooks are real anxious to get him back to normal!" Teyla let out a full blown laugh at this and for a few minutes the two kids couldn't stop the laughing fit that plagued them.

"Well, well, it seems we're feeling a little better. How are ye John?"

A little startled at the sudden appearance of Dr. Beckett at the side of his bed, Sheppard turned to face the Scot, the last of his laughs fading away and being replaced with a happy smile. "I'm good," the boy piqued, his eyes wandering over the kind doctor's face.

"Good, that's good," Carson said, nodding his head and looking for something to say. When the man said nothing more, Sheppard looked from Beckett to the figure standing some ways away from the group.

Sheppard's face was curious as he stared into the blue eyes of his friend, the scientist tried to smile. Sheppard frowned when the edges of McKay's mouth were about to lift, then changed their minds and remained neutral.

Taking in a deep breath, Sheppard sat up a little straighter, "You'll fix us! You fix everything!" His voice held as much confidence as a seven year old could muster. The sheer earnestness in the child's voice alone convinced almost everyone in the room. Sheppard looked on at McKay expectantly.

McKay looked bleakly at them, not really sure if he should answer at all. Raising his hand, McKay opened his mouth to say something when the infirmary door hissed open. Changing his mind instantly, McKay lowered his head and rubbed the back of his neck as Dr. Weir and Major Lorne entered the room.

"Rodney," she said as she nodded to the scientist, indicating he should follow her to the beds. McKay obeyed and as Weir approached Carson she nodded to him then turned to the three children (Ronon still out like a light) in the beds. "How are the kids doing?"

::-:TBC:-::

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_Thanks for reading! Reviews always appreciated! =P_


	3. Rodney McKay, Action Babysitter

**Disclaimer:** Do I really need one on each chapter? =P

**A/N:** Having great fun writing this! . Anyways, thanks for reviews and such! Hope you like this chapter. Oh yeah, my sister thought up this title for me! =P

P.S. Does "Uncle Rodney" sound strange? If it does, I won't use it anymore.

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::-:SGA:-::

**Chapter 3: Rodney McKay, Action Babysitter**

Ronon and Sheppard shifted impatiently on the cushions of Weir's couch. They had been sitting there for hours and the two boys found their legs quickly falling asleep. As soon as Beckett had given them the all clear, the two had tried to run from the infirmary. However, Lorne had managed to catch them by the collars of their shirts and drag them to Weir's office. At the moment, they sat on the couch, Teyla in between the two to keep them from starting another poking contest, and still in their white medical scrubs.

Carson sat in one of the two chairs in front of Weir's desk and McKay stood off to the side, his arms crossed, and not looking too comfortable. Elizabeth was pinching her furrowed brow as Lorne stood by the door to ensure that none of the children tried to escape.

"Okay, so," Weir finally opened her eyes and turned to the three kids fidgeting on her couch. "What are we going to do with you?"

"Heightmyer has been informed of the situation, she says she'll watch over them until I can fix that device," McKay offered, still not really looking at his three friends.

"We could put them in isolation… I'm sure we can scrounge up a couple of people willing to watch them and something to keep them entertained." Weir nodded at Carson's suggestion, taking into consideration both the offers.

"Hey!" Sheppard announced indignantly from his spot on the couch. The three adults turned towards his sudden out burst. They looked as if they were about to continue without giving the boy a second thought when Sheppard leapt to his feet from the couch, also catching Teyla and Ronon's attention. "We were grown-ups too! We should be able to do what we want-"

"You've been mentally altered as well," McKay said, obviously feeling much more comfortable around his friends once they were out of the infirmary.

At the confused looks the adults received, Carson tried to explain, "What Rodney means is that your cerebral cortex, or the part of your brain that controls thinking and judgment, isn't fully developed yet."

"Therefore, if we let you go without a… sitter, it'd be like setting loose three seven year olds on Atlantis. At least you have the advantage of knowing the city," McKay concluded, struggling not to let his smugness appear on his face.

It appeared to look as Sheppard crossed his arms and hopped back onto the catch backwards. Teyla put a hand on Sheppard's shoulder and tried to calm her friend as the seven year old frowned deeply. Ronon didn't look too happy about the whole thing either, his young eyes just as deadly as his aged glare.

Then, the Satedan's face brightened a little as he slid off the couch, several inches taller than his friends, and took a few steps forward. "We should at least be able to decide who are sitter is right?" He asked, his voice not as gruff as it had been and much sweeter.

Weir glanced to Carson, and Carson to McKay, and McKay looked back at Weir. They all appeared uneasy.

Ronon gave a look to Sheppard and Teyla then turned to stare at McKay. The other two instantly caught on and leapt to their feet as well. "Yeah!" Sheppard stated, his arms planted firmly across his chest again. "Cuz if you give us someone we don't like, it'd be like having three _unhappy_ seven year olds!"

Teyla took a step further than the other two, her eyes set directly on McKay and that was when the scientist noticed his friends looking at him. Immediately McKay's face fell and before he could sputter any reply, the young girl spoke. "It's only fair! After all, you're just goinna to take away all our other fun."

Weir winced at Teyla's logic and realized that her friends were still in those bodies whether she liked it or not. Nevertheless, they needed someone to watch over them for the time being … "Alright, I suppose that wouldn't hurt." McKay shot Elizabeth a frightened look, but the woman didn't catch it in time before she asked, "Who would you like to look after you?"

At her question, the pouts and frowns on the three children were wiped away with broad, happy grins. "Uncle Rodney!" All three of them chorused as they rushed past Carson's chair (nearly knocking the poor man over) and slammed into McKay's legs. The man let out a loud "Ooof," and managed to keep himself from falling as his three teammates hugged his knees, Ronon able to wrap his arms around his two other friends.

At first Elizabeth was shocked at the sudden charge, but the shock was easily washed away as she watched the panic stricken astrophysicist look down at the giggling children, his hands hovering over their heads not sure of what he should do. Weir placed a hand over her mouth to hide a smile, while Beckett and Lorne didn't even try to restrain themselves and cracked up at the scene.

::-:SGA:-::

_Torture, torture, torture. _It was all torture and that was the only thing McKay could think about as he sat in his lab trying to get some work done. A small team had gone back to the facility and downloaded all the information they could from the database. A security team had deemed the place too dangerous to work at after what had happened to Teyla, Ronon, and Sheppard.

At the moment, McKay was reviewing the information they had managed to obtain from the Ancient facility. Well, that wasn't completely accurate. Yes, he did have the data streaming in front of him, yes it was from P4R-157, but no he wasn't actually reviewing it. His attention was else where, as his brain refused to recognize the words on his monitor.

Unfortunately, Weir had not heeded McKay's pleas to override Sheppard, Teyla, and Ronon's demand that he be their babysitter. However, the woman did not have any of it, and said it was probably safer for everyone if they were happy and content for the moment, even if that meant McKay was not.

The scientist had sighed loudly and had grumbled all the way down to his lab, the three "kiddies" being escorted by Lorne until they got behind the lab doors. At that point, the major wished McKay good luck and quickly bolted to the nearest transporter. McKay did not have a chance to reply before he felt three hand tugging on his jacket.

Turning around, he was met with the excited eyes of his charges. Sighing, McKay found some "risk-free" devices (life detectors, useless scanners, and a harmless ball-like object) and told them to stay put in an unoccupied section of the lab. That had lasted about an hour.

As the other scientists had heard the rumors (which spread like wildfire) they began coming in to see the children. It had been a long time since the Athosians had left Atlantis and many missed the innocent feeling the children had brought to the air.

McKay sighed a couple times, relieved that he did not have to worry about Sheppard and Ronon, fairly unconcerned about Teyla, wrecking havoc on his lab at the moment. However, he found himself constantly distracted as several scientists showed the children around the large lab and all the 'neat' gadgets they had found.

At the moment, Kusanagi was entertaining Teyla with what was guessed to be an Ancient toy, as it was a simple wand-like stick with a small marble-sized ball. When one activated the stick, the small ball would float into the air and travel where the wielder urged it to go.

Radek was unlucky enough to have Sheppard tailing him, seeing as the small colonel had grown bored with "Uncle Rodney" just sitting in front of a computer screen for the past hour. Every time Zelenka went to pick up something, a "What's that?" accompanied it, and after he was done explaining the Czech would be greeted with a blank stare and a "Cool," before the crazy-haired child was prying at something else. Several times, Radek slapped Sheppard's hand away from an Ancient device, having no doubt that the boy's gene could activate something potentially dangerous.

Actually, McKay found the interaction quite entertaining as he propped his head on a curled fist and watched the pair.

However, McKay did not miss any moment of Kavanaugh's own torture. Unfortunately for him, Ronon had gone straight for the man. The entire day, Ronon was tripping up Kavanaugh and causing him to spill his drink or gave a rather rude comment which made the scientist sputter and grow red either from embarrassment or anger. McKay kept himself from laughing as he watched Kavanaugh struggle to stay calm, obviously not comfortable with the idea of yelling at a child.

Over all, McKay would've said the time he had spent in the lab was okay, if it hadn't been for the one little incident right before lunch…

::-:SGA:-::

"What?!" McKay barked indignantly as Teyla, Sheppard, and Ronon stood on the either side of his desk. All three of them were narrowing their eyes at the man and putting out their lips in protest. Sheppard took in a sharp breath through his nose and only screwed his lips tighter. Teyla tried her best to look annoyed, but it came out a little too squinty, and Ronon stood there with his death glare staring through McKay.

"We're hungry!" Sheppard whined. McKay let out an exasperated sigh as Ronon joined the conversation that had been running for a good seven minutes.

"Yeah, I'm hungry too."

"Oh you're always hungry!"

"I'm a growing boy! I need to eat," Ronon puffed his chest a little to emphasize his point.

McKay rolled his eyes and looked to Teyla, expecting the little girl to pipe into the conversation. Sure enough, "Yeah, Uncle Rodney. It's past lunch time and-" McKay's eyes weren't the only ones to grow wide when Teyla's stomach let out a monstrous growl. The girl's face beamed red as she gripped her stomach from embarrassment. Sheppard and Ronon looked at their friend, both clearly startled at the noise, before busting out into laughter.

"Alright, alright," McKay put up his hands in surrender and then turned to his laptop. "Give me two minutes to upload this to the database…" McKay trailed off, quickly typing away to finish the job in a hurry. His attention easily stayed on the simple task and the man did not catch the movement in the corner of his eye.

Sheppard restrained letting out a sigh when McKay went to upload the data. He was hungry, and it was hotdog day in the cafeteria. Hotdogs… they sounded amazingly good at the moment. While Teyla waited patiently, and Ronon kept shifting his attention from one thing to another, Sheppard allowed his eyes to roam around the lab.

_Oooh,_ the boy thought, his curious eyes landing on a strange-looking gun of some sort. For some reason Sheppard had an urge to just pick it up and shoot it. Biting his lip and glancing back to McKay, Sheppard saw that the 'babysitter' was still waiting for the data to upload, and sneakily stepped away from the desk.

Teyla instantly noticed her friend's absence and hissed after the boy, "John, what you doing?" Sheppard waved her off as Ronon turned and watched Sheppard approach the gun.

With no adult really watching the children anymore, Sheppard made his way to the gun unhindered. Picking up the uncanny and slightly heavy weapon, Sheppard examined it with great wonderment. It was gold in color and looked like a toy if nothing else. The barrel was round and attached to a crescent handle. Rings wrapped around the barrel, giving it an old futuristic look.

"Cool," Sheppard mouthed, eagerly turning around and showing off his discovery to his friends. Ronon went wide eyed, finally realizing what had interested the colonel so much, while Teyla scowled at the other boy for being so careless. "Put that down," she whispered, her voice barely making it to Sheppard's ears.

Ignoring the girl, Sheppard began to fiddle with the weapon, finding it awkward to hold. Getting a firm grip on the handle, the boy winced when his finger suddenly pulled back the trigger.

There was a shrill shriek from one of the female scientist as her top suddenly disappeared. Blushing redder than a tomato, the woman hurried to grab one of the lab coats and held it against her bare chest. A few giggles and snorts came from the woman's colleges and she scowled, both embarrassed and angry, at them as she tried to figure out a way to the door.

At the shriek, McKay had lifted his head from his laptop just in time to see the woman cover up. Almost immediately able to guess what had happened, McKay turned accusing eyes towards the three… two! McKay looked from Ronon to Teyla and back again when he realized a crazy haired seven year old was missing. Not having to ask, a frightened Teyla defended herself by pointing a finger past Ronon.

McKay turned sharply to see Sheppard biting his lip and looking apologetic towards the woman he had just accidentally shot with the gun, "John!" McKay shouted. Unfortunately, this did not have the desired effect as Sheppard jumped at the sound of McKay's voice. The gun dropped to the floor and as the barrel cracked, rays shot out everywhere.

…

Zelenka felt his now empty face where his glasses had been, while Kusanagi dabbed away coffee from her blouse (having the unlucky timing of trying to sip coffee when a rogue beam hit her cup). Other scientist were morning over lost laptops while a few wore a couple extra lab coats, having found their clothes suddenly vaporized from their backs. One unlucky soul was now completely bald.

McKay huffed, his breath heavy and a sweat breaking across his forehead. He was on his hands and knees, gripping a large metal crate to the floor as pangs and pings bounced off the walls inside. When the pings stopped, one of the rays obviously hitting the gun itself, McKay let his grip go and looked towards the now sheepish Sheppard, futilely hiding behind Ronon.

"_You_," he began, rising to his feet and marching over to the child. "You… you- argh!" McKay gripped his hair, unable to think of anything to say, the lab in almost complete ruin from scientists panicking when the first few shots were fired. Falling back into his chair, it swiveled back and slammed him into the wall. Not really caring, McKay let out a moan and leaned his head back.

Teyla, Ronon, and Sheppard stood a good distance away from McKay, not really sure what else to do as the grown-ups worked on reorganizing the lab. After a few uncomfortable moments of silence, Ronon grunted, "We still going to lunch?"

McKay snapped up from his chair, pushed it to the end of his desk, and leaned over staring at his friends. He opened his mouth to say something when Zelenka cut in. "Yes, yes you are. It's the least Rodney can do…" the Czech's voice was threatening and he glared at McKay, or at least where he assumed McKay was, having to now squint.

McKay rolled his eyes and moved behind his charge. Putting a hand on Ronon and Sheppard's backs, he pushed the boys towards the door, Teyla following. "Go, go, go, go!" the man urged and the four of them were quickly moving to the nearest transport and clambering inside.

::-:TBC:-::

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_Fun to write! Reviews appreciated! Thanks for reading ;)_


	4. The Psychiatrist's Psychiatrist

**Disclaimer:** Yes, yes, we all know I don't own Stargate stuff. V.V

**A/N:** Super thanks for the great reviews! Seeing those little e-mail notices always makes me smile! And then I write happy! =P Honestly, I don't know what to think of this chapter...

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::-:SGA:-::

**Chapter 4: The Psychiatrist's Psychiatrist**

"Well it's your fault for touching it John!"

"Hey! Leave him alone, you could've stopped 'im ya know?!"

"Shut up Ronon! You didn't stop me either!"

"I didn't know I needed to!"

"Yeah… well you're stupid!"

"You're a butthead!"

"Freak."

"Idiot."

"Caveman!" Ronon launched himself across the table, his chair flying back and hitting a marine in the legs. Sheppard held up his hands as the large boy came crashing into him, sending them both sprawling on the floor. Teyla stood in her own chair, screaming for them to stop at the top of her lungs.

As soon as he saw Ronon crash into Sheppard, McKay leapt to his feet. The two boys began rolling around on the ground, punching, kicking, screaming, and covered in the hotdogs and macaroni that were once on the table.

Dropping to one knee beside the two, McKay put a hand on the back of Ronon's collar and pushed Sheppard down with one hand. This successfully pulled apart the two boys and McKay pulled them both to their feet. "Hey! Cut it out!" Teyla fell silent as McKay held the boys back with a solid hand on each chest.

Ronon stood there, puffing and glaring at Sheppard. Sheppard returned the glare and then crossed his arms and turned away from the Satedan. Ronon tried to push forward, but McKay successfully held the boy back. "Okay, now calm down…" the scientist spoke more to settle himself than the boys.

Letting out a sigh, McKay rose from his kneeling position and looked around the mess hall. Everyone was staring at them, not sure what to make of the scene. Some people stared on accusingly at McKay, others showed pity… a few of them were confused and had clearly not heard the rumors of the situation.

Covering his face with one hand out of embarrassment, McKay looked down at the mess. "C'mon… we're going to Heightmyer…" McKay put a hand on Ronon and Sheppard's backs and gently pushed them towards the steps. They paused only for a moment when McKay walked over to Teyla, who was still standing on her chair (now looking confused and upset).

Not really knowing what he was doing, McKay scooped Teyla into his arms, the girl immediately hugging onto his neck, and picked her off the chair. He didn't let go until they were at the steps then placed Teyla on her feet. Instantly, the girl took his hand as the two boys waited near the mess hall door.

"Could you get someone to clean that up," McKay asked one of the marines, glancing back over his shoulder at the mess of macaroni and hot dogs. It looked as if they had just tried to feed a wild animal. The marine nodded and McKay moved over to the boys.

"Now," he glared down at them, immediately causing them to look away, blushing. "I don't know what that was all about, but I do know I can't leave you alone even to get coffee! So, until we get to Heightmyer's office, I don't want to hear a single word from either of you, and you are to be on your best behavior. Got it?!" McKay's voice was sharp and dangerous. It had only been a little over forty-five minutes since the lab incident and he was in no mood to mess around with these little squabbles.

Ronon and Sheppard nodded and McKay put a smug look, "Good. Now let's go." McKay lead them out of the mess hall, which filled with gossip and chatter as soon as they were out of the door. McKay shook his head, feeling a headache coming on, this was going to be harder than he thought.

::-:SGA:-::

McKay sat in the chair, his arms crossed and one legs strewn over the other. He kept his eyes on Ronon and Sheppard, watching for any sign that the two boys might start up again. Teyla sat in between them just in case, as they all squished onto the couch.

Kate sat across from them in her own chair, her eyes also watching the boys, but keeping an eye on the upset girl as well. When they had entered her office, Teyla had not wanted to let go of McKay's hand, but had finally been convinced to sit on the couch.

Sheppard and Ronon had calmed down considerably and Kat thanked god for this blessing. She had been informed of the fight over the radio while McKay was bringing the children down.

Taking in a breath, Kate took a moment to think of something to say. She had immediately talked to them after they had awoken and eaten breakfast and before they were assigned to McKay. They had all appeared to be fine with the idea for the moment, and although they said they felt a bit weird, they didn't seem to mind the lack of comprehension for some things. Of course, that was probably their seven year old minds speaking again.

"I suppose," Kate cooed, keeping her voice calm in hopes of not upsetting any of them, "we should start from the beginning. What started the fight?" Wrong question, Kate berated herself mentally for asking it.

Ronon and Sheppard burst out, each rebutting the other's claim. The blame bounced back and forth, like a game of catch, and Teyla shrunk in her seat. Sheppard leaned over her to shout louder than Ronon, and the Satedan followed suit. The two boys were nose to nose, and in the confusion of their upraised voices, Teyla was trying to tell them to shut up.

"Hey!" McKay's feet snapped to the floor and he was on the edge of his chair, glaring at the children from the corner. Instantly, the boys shut up and looked at him. McKay's blue eyes narrowed, and Sheppard eased back into his seat. Ronon gave McKay an apologetic look and he too pulled back. Letting out a sigh, McKay nodded at Heightmyer to continue and relaxed a bit.

Mouthing a thank-you at McKay, she continued, "Okay, let's start one at a time… Teyla, how about you tell me what happened."

Teyla fidgeted a bit in her seat for a moment, not really comfortable being in the middle again. Sitting up straight, the young girl began. Her voice was first quiet, but it gained confidence the more she spoke, and soon it held the tone she had always carried with her, the tone of a leader and negotiator.

"Well… Uncle Rodney took us to the mess hall after Dr. Zelenka kicked us out of the lab. He got us all hotdogs and macaroni, they were really good! Then a call came in on his radio, I think it was Dr. Zelenka, I wasn't paying attention," Teyla blushed at this, "Cuz I was eating my hotdogs." The girl smiled shyly and then went on, "He seemed angry with something and said that we was…banned?" Teyla looked to McKay to see if this was right. The scientist had seemed to brighten a little at this and nodded his head.

Teyla smiled, "From the lab. Which means we can't go with Uncle Rodney to it anymore. He went to get coffee, and I said we made him sad. John said he was sorry we couldn't play with the cool stuff anymore. I yelled at him, Ronon yelled at me, John yelled at him. They Ronon jumped!" Teyla's face was solemn and she motions with her hands to represent Ronon jumping.

"I tried to stop them… I- I shouted," a small tear came to the girl's eye as she recalled the feeling she had felt. McKay leaned a little forward in his chair, concern showing across his face. "I didn't want John or Ronon to get hurt! I didn't want to make Uncle Rodney angry again! I just wanted them to stop!"

Kate reached out and pulled Teyla into a hug as the little girl began sobbing. She was overwhelmed at the thought of her two friends fighting, and couldn't hold it in anymore. She was strong for someone in her condition, and Kate tried to sooth the child by stroking her hair. "Ssssh, it's okay."

Teyla's sobs were silent as she began to calm down. Sheppard and Ronon looked at each other, and then turned to Teyla. When the little girl pulled out of Kate's shoulder, they both stood up.

"We're sorry Teyla, we didn't mean to upset you…" Sheppard stepped forward and tried to give a reassuring smile.

Ronon stepped forward too, putting a hand on the girl's back and smiling at both his friends. "Yeah, we'll promise not to fight again. Okay?"

Teyla sniffed and smiled at the boys, then turned to look at McKay. He smiled back and Teyla felt herself brighten up. "Okay. Because you promised," Although her voice was stuffy from the crying, it was still strong.

McKay let out a sigh; true, the scene was a bit cliché, but it still touched your heart. _More than others_, the scientist thought, seeing Heightmyer looking fondly down at the children and trying to keep herself from crying as well.

"Alright kiddos," McKay stood up, "We feeling all better now?" All three of them looked up at their babysitter and nodded excitedly. "Hmm, then I suppose we should be going…" Heightmyer smiled reassuringly at McKay. She stood up to say goodbye and told him if he needed anything or had any problems, he shouldn't hesitate to ask.

McKay rolled his eyes and scooted the children once again out into the hall. Once the door hissed close behind him, McKay stared down at his friends. They all looked up at him expectantly. "What?" He asked, not really sure he wanted an answer.

"Nothing," Sheppard said, looking away innocently.

"No, what?!"

"You're pretty good at this," Ronon commented, joining his friend in looking completely innocent.

Teyla giggled and took McKay's hand once again. "Yeah, you are." McKay looked down at the tiny girl. Teyla had her focus on the boys, wondering what was going through their mind. McKay shook his head again, wondering the same thing, but figuring it safer to not ask and find out later (in case of "casualties"). But he knew by that look, they were definitely up to something.

"O…K…," he said, eyeing the boys before finally asking, "So what now? We can't go back to the lab, I don't think you'd like to hang out while I worked… Elizabeth made it explicitly clear we aren't to go off-world, fly in jumpers, go near water, go exploring, ooor, go anywhere near the gateroom. Seeing as Carson doesn't want you back until 19:00..."

Sheppard spun around at McKay, his face sinisterly excited. Gritting his teeth, the scientist kept himself from flinching at the "innocent" smile plastered on his friend's face. "We," Sheppard began, now Ronon turning to face him as well, "want to play a game."

_Great,_ McKay thought, oh so looking forward to the new form of torture they had in store for him.

::-:TBC:-::

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_Sowwy for making Teyla cry, I was listening to sad music T-T_


	5. A Good Day

**Disclaimer: **Etc. etc. etc.

**A/N:** Okay, happy chapter this time! ^-^ Oh, thanks big-time for your wonderful reviews! This chapter's for PJ! ;P Another thing, different planet, different direction of sunset. =P

P.S. Listened to cute music while writing this! =P Link on my profile. ^-^ Enjoy the chapter!

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::-:SGA:-::

**Chapter 5: A Good Day**

Sheppard leaned over, his face scrunched up in scrutiny. "Is he dead?" the boy asked, poking something with Teyla's bantos rods.. Ronon's face appeared next to his friends, "I don't think so…" the Satedan grunted. Teyla's popped in and completed the triangle, "Perhaps you hit him too hard Ronon." The Satedan shrugged as the three of them looked down at McKay.

The man's eyes were closed as he lay on the floor of the gym. They had been playing tackle tag and unfortunately, McKay took the brunt of the force when the Satedan seven year old crashed into him while trying to tackle Sheppard. McKay had wanted nothing to do with the game, but had become a casualty of play anyway.

The three children leaned in closer as McKay remained unmoving. Suddenly, a smile split across McKay's face, as the man opened his eyes. The children ran away laughing and screaming as McKay sat up from his spot on the floor and went after them with outstretched hands.

Teyla and Ronon ran around to one corner of the gym, Teyla holding one of her bantos rods and looking excitedly at McKay as he came closer, moving in a stalking method. "Back Wraith! You are no match for me!"

"Ah!" McKay's eyes went wide with pretend madness, "But I have heard the rumors of the great Teyla Emagan, Athosian warrior and Wraith sslayer." His words held a hiss about them as he moved closer. "I have come here to challenge her and her partner, the unbeatable, Ronon Dex."

Teyla giggled at this and put on a mock serious face, lowering her weapon a bit and furrowing her brow. Ronon stepped up beside her and puffed out his chest like a true Satedan soldier and smiled at McKay.

"We accept your challenge Wraith!" Teyla called, gripping her stick.

"Good, good," McKay hissed, baring his teeth in a Wraith-like fashion.

"Oh, but you forgot me!" They all turned to see Sheppard standing on one of the benches in the gym, holding up the bantos rod in triumph. "The most bravest and heroic fighter of all! Colonel John Sheppard. You shall not have a chance to fight my friends, Wraith, for I will slay you were you stand!" With that, Sheppard leapt from the bench.

McKay had only seconds to react and bent his body a little to soften the blow as the child came crashing into his chest. With a small, "oof" the scientist was on his back and on the gym floor, once again. Sheppard was laughing like no tomorrow and immediately Teyla and Ronon leapt onto the defeated babysitter.

Not having any chance to escape, McKay quickly wiggled his fingers dangerously and began tickling Sheppard's side. The boy laughed hysterically as McKay gave an evil smile. Teyla and Ronon came to their friend's rescue and began to tickle McKay on his sides. Letting his hands fall to cover his stomach as he laughed, McKay soon found all three children's hands tickling his sides.

McKay fell back onto the floor, not being able to control his laughter. Teyla giggled and flopped over his chest. Sheppard flopped next to her and Ronon sat with his hands supporting him. All three were laughing hard and enjoying the echoing of their voices off the gym wall.

It took several moments, but McKay finally was able to control himself with a loud sigh. Teyla allowed a few giggles to escape before she too fell silent. Ronon and Sheppard followed suit and the four were left flopped onto the floor, large smiles on their faces.

Sheppard looked over Teyla's back at McKay, "Thanks… Uncle Rodney."

McKay lifted his head up to see the boy, and gave him a soft smile as Ronon and Teyla chimed in. "Yeah thanks! It was fun." "I really like playing with you."

McKay sighed, "No problem guys." He brought his hand up and ruffled Ronon's hair, then allowed it flop over his chest beside the girl strapped across his stomach. Closing his eyes for a moment, McKay enjoyed the silence of the room for a few minutes, a little tired from being up all night at his friend's bedsides in the infirmary. Now all this excitement seemed to have finally drained the man.

Then the door hissed open and McKay opened his eyes to see a grinning Major Lorne standing in the doorway. Behind him in the hall were several marines, whom peered over the major's shoulder in curiosity. "Well, well, what do we have here? Having fun are we?" Lorne asked, a smug smile on his face.

McKay narrowed his eyes dangerously at Lorne; Teyla, Sheppard, and Ronon copied the man and they too stared at Lorne, menacing smiles spreading across their faces. For a moment, Lorne furrowed his brow and looked down at his friends.

"You know major," McKay began, his words spoken matter-of-factly, "It's bad luck to interrupt someone's tickle battle. Especially since it can escalate into a full scale war!" At his cue, the three children leapt from the ground and attacked the major.

::-:SGA:-::

McKay moved down the hallway, Teyla happily striding next to him with her hand secured in his. Ronon and Sheppard walked ahead of the two, chasing after each other in a game of tag. "No running!" His voice fell on deaf ears as they moved down the hall. Shaking his head, McKay realized he'd have to scold them later. However, for now, he'd allow them to have their fun.

It was near getting time for them to return to the infirmary, and McKay almost felt sad at the thought that the day was ending. It had started out chaotic, but as he watched the sky start to turn orange through the various windows, McKay realized that everything had turned out okay. At least, it was for the moment.

"Where are we going?" Teyla asked, her voice quiet and curious.

McKay smiled down on her, "To see the sunset. I thought you'd guys would like to calm down." Teyla smiled up at him, knowing what the man really meant. He wanted to end the day on a peaceful note, and it wasn't hard for them to see that McKay was tired. After all, they had basically kept him on full alert all day.

"That sounds nice," Teyla sighed, looking forward as Ronon and Sheppard disappeared around a corner.

"Yes, yes it does."

::-:SGA:-::

Weir and Carson moved through the halls, both of them looked a bit anxious and their strides were quick as they came near one of the piers. McKay was almost an hour late in bringing John, Teyla, and Ronon back to the infirmary so that they could get some rest. Carson had begun to pace at 19:30, and by 19:40 he was calling Weir on his radio.

Zelenka had easily pinpointed them with the LSD and the pair had quickly transported as close as they could get to the Northern pier. Weir was very agitated, seeing as she had specifically told McKay not to allow them out onto one of the piers, incase one of them fell into the water. Carson was even more upset, hoping that the man had not overexerted the children, knowing how fragile the first twenty-four hours were.

"Maybe they over powered 'im?" Beckett suggested as they stepped before the door leading to the pier.

Elizabeth seemed to consider this before swiping her hand over the panel to open the door, "I doubt it Carson. In fact, after hearing what happened earlier today, I think McKay has almost complete control of them."

"Aye," Carson said, stepping behind Elizabeth onto the pier, "but they are rather cute little buggers."

Weir gave Beckett a curious look, the Scot simply held up his hands in a "Just sayin" matter. Weir rolled her eyes and turned to look out at the pier. The sun was setting, and the stars were beginning to show. Everything was now a golden blue mixture of night and day, the water reflecting on the buildings around the pier. It was very pretty.

Sitting in the middle of the pier were the four missing culprits. McKay sat with his legs outstretched, watching the sunset. Sheppard sat to his right, his hands gripping his crossed feet as he stared up into the sky. Ronon was laying on his back and let out a content sigh. Teyla appeared, apparently sitting out of sight on McKay's lap. She looked down at Ronon for a moment, then disappeared once again as she settled back into the man's lap.

"Well," Weir whispered, not really wanting to disturb the four at the moment, "It seems Rodney's settled right into this."

Carson was silent as he stared on at his friends and nodded his head. "It appears that way. Go easy on 'im won't ya?" Beckett looked over to Weir, lifting his eyebrows. The woman glanced back at him, before returning he eyes to the team.

"No promises, but I'll see what I can do." Elizabeth smiled, and Carson smiled back. They stood there for a moment, invisible to those on the pier, and watched the sunset. It was a comfortable evening.

There was a slight breeze coming over the ocean, but it wasn't quite cool enough to disturb them. The ocean was brilliantly orange and pink before the last of the sun disappeared behind the horizon, and the waters turned black, reflecting each and every star perfectly.

::-:TBC:-::

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_Bit short, but I hope you guys (and gals) liked it! Reviews much appreciated!_


	6. Ribbons

**Disclaimer:** I like yaks.

**A/N:** I got so happy when I saw the reviews! ^o^ I did a little dance V.V Any who, I got started right away on this chapter! Hope you like it!

* * *

::-:SGA:-::

**Chapter 6: Ribbons**

His fingers pinched the bridge of his nose, while his brow furrowed, his mind taking in everything that Dr. Weir had said. _Impossible, impossible, impossible._ He kept repeating to himself. It just all seemed impossible. As if the universe was working against him or something. _Ha_, he thought_, When wasn't it?!_ Letting out a deep and agitated sigh, McKay looked back up at Elizabeth, his eyes asking, "Are you sure?"

Elizabeth broke away from his gaze and looked to the tablet on her desk. It showed a geographical report on P4R-157. She had sent a team back to the planet a few hours ago to scan the facility. It had been three long days since the… accident that left Teyla, Sheppard, and Ronon the way they were. Weir had begun to yield to McKay and Zelenka's pleas to go back to the planet. Apparently, McKay didn't have enough information as it was to even begin to think about fixing the situation.

However, nothing was ever easy. The scouting team had reported seismic activity and when they got to the facility, the entrance was completely blocked. It looked as if the tunnels had collapsed from an earthquake just a few days ago. Probably the same day McKay had been there with the team.

Weir sighed, handing her friend the tablet to look over, "I'm sorry Rodney, there's no going back there. I can have a crew start clearing a path, but that could take days, maybe even weeks… where are they anyway?"

McKay knew exactly whom Weir was talking about. Waving his hand distractedly as he reviewed the information before him, "Uh, Heightmyer offered to baby-sit while I came to talk with you. She seemed a bit enthusiastic about the whole thing. I think she's taking them down to one of the recreational rooms. Something about crafts…" McKay trailed off, his mind suddenly elsewhere.

Sighing, the man handed back the tablet. "You're right. So how about sending that crew?"

"It would take time to organize. I can have them on the planet by tomorrow afternoon the earliest," McKay nodded absent mindedly as Elizabeth continued, "We'll probably have to send a puddle jumper through as well, just incase another earthquake hits. At least one of your junior staff should accompany them as well. Just in case."

When McKay did not reply, Weir went on to ask, "How are you holding up?"

"Hmm… well you know, as best as I can. Heh, let me tell you something, I _pity_ Sheppard's mother! That boy has more energy in him than a ZedPM. I mean I've only spent three days with the kid, I don't know how she did it for years! And Teyla, just the sweetest thing. I think Madison would like her, Jeanie too. Ronon on the other hand… I can't leave him and John alone for more than two minutes before they're off challenging each other to something. Such a competitive boy…" McKay smiled, looking off into the distance, remembering the past three days.

His friends were a handful to take care of, but despite the several occasions where he had to scold them, everything was practically perfect.

"That's good to hear. Has Carson let them out of the infirmary yet?"

"Yes, yes, last night was their last stay. He says their healthy enough to sleep in their own quarters if they want. I don't think he really wants them to leave, but you know." McKay shrugged and stood from his chair. "Let me know when you have a team ready. I'd like to go for the first trip, just to do a few scans and get together what's going on."

"Of course," Weir nodded, bidding McKay goodbye. But before he could walk through the door, the woman called after him. "Oh Rodney!" McKay popped his head back in, looking a bit eager to go. "Thanks. You've done a lot for them and for us. I don't know how I'd be handling it if it were my team, but they are my friends and you have been extraordinary."

McKay gave a rather sad looking smile at the compliment. "I just hope I can fix all this. I don't mind watching after them… it's just I want my team back," McKay gave another half-smile, before turning back and heading for the recreational center.

::-:later that day:-::

After McKay had retrieved them from torturing Kate too long with their weird looking clay monsters, Teyla, Ronon, and Sheppard had dragged the man halfway around the city, doing this and that. They barely even stopped for lunch and McKay was quite certain dinner would never come. His friends were just too excited and chose to use the man as their personal toy that day.

McKay tried his best to keep calm when Sheppard and Ronon raced each other, through the gate room! And the scientist was nigh ready to explode when the destructive boys managed to sneak a gurney from the infirmary and push Teyla through the halls on it. The girl was a bit shaken at the entire thing, but she seemed to have enjoyed.

So McKay went easy on them and only forced them to give the gurney back and fully apologize to Dr. Beckett for what they had done. The Scot couldn't help but be swayed by their innocent and apologetic looks. Instead of getting the slightest bit angry, like McKay had hoped for, the man found some sweets in his desk drawer and handed them to the three children. McKay swore revenge later, as the kids popped the sugar.

The rest of the day was lost to McKay as a blur of chaos. He vaguely remembered fire, food, and some choice words in Czech. But after that, McKay didn't really want to recall much.

By the time the sun was setting, and the three buggers were calming down, the scientist was drained. He sat on a bench, his shoulders hunched and his head titled to the right a bit out of exhaustion. His eyes were unfocused and he barely registered his friends around him. Teyla was sitting to his right on the bench, a hand gripping his arm. Sheppard was knocked out, his head resting on the man's lap, while Ronon played with the boy's ear.

"Come on, kids. It's way past Uncle Rodney's bedtime. I think little Johnny here has the right idea."

"I want to hear a story."

"I already told you a story, Teyla. The one about the Wraith that couldn't stop singing everything he wanted to say, remember?" McKay's voice was almost at the point of begging.

"That story was stupid."

"Well, Ronon, maybe if you'd been listening instead of seeing how many jelly beans would fit in John's ear, you would have enjoyed it more. I know--let's have some milk and cookies and then go to bed, okay?"

"Can I wake John up so he can have some, too?"

"No! I mean, John already had his bedtime drink, Teyla."

"Yeah...Uncle Carson was really mad that you let John have a big boy drink after dinner."

"Well Uncle Carson didn't have to play hide and seek with John for five hours today. Besides, he's technically legal."

"You said if I could beat you in a sparring match you'd let me stay up late."

"Well, Ronon, it is late, isn't it? And you cheated, anyway."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too, and I never said when I'd let you stay up late. You can stay up late tomorrow when you're with Zelenka."

"Dr. Zelenka smells funny."

"Yes, Teyla, he does. Now be a good girl and go to bed."

::-:SGA:-::

McKay stumbled into his dark room and didn't bother to turn on the lights as he dragged his feet across the floor to his bed. Flopping down on the bed, McKay kicked off his boots and let out a loud, long held in breath. He was sure he'd have a good sleep if nothing else.

It had taken nearly an hour to get Ronon to stop bouncing around and in his bed. Fortunately, once the Satedan hit the mattress, he was out like a light. Sheppard was the easiest, already passed out from his little drink, and Teyla had suddenly become very tired after the drinking her milk and finishing off three cookies.

He had tucked the little girl into bed, and at her insistence, stayed until she was fully asleep to ward off any monsters. Then he turned out the light and headed to his own quarters.

Finding his mind too fuzzy to reminisce on the day, McKay curled up on one side, still in uniform, and succumbed to sleep. Just as he did so, a light rain started. The man was oblivious to the pangs against his window, the wind rushing over the water, and the lightning ribboning across the sky. No, the astrophysicist just wanted to sleep. Blocking out the on coming storm, McKay soon fell into dreamland.

"Uncle Rodney…" The voice was barely a whisper, and hissed into the man's ear. He stirred a little, but easily felt back into his dream. "Uncle Rodney," this time the voice was more urgent, and slowly growing louder. Yet McKay would have none of it, and stayed asleep. Poking his nose, the owner of the voice tried once more, "Uncle Rodney!"

Moaning, McKay scrunched up his face and opened his eyes. "What?!" McKay said suddenly, pulling back as his eyes once again adjusted to the dark. The face of the girl had appeared out of nowhere and nearly gave the man a heart attack. Pulling his hand down his face, McKay took in a deep breath and sighed, "Teyla? Aren't you expose to be in bed?" _After all the trouble I went through to get you there._

"My room's too big," the girl's voice was shaky, and hearing a hint of fear in her words, McKay sat up in his bed and tried to wake himself up. "And- and noisy!" Teyla whispered, stepping closer to the bed.

"Noisy?" the man repeated, not sure what the girl meant. But Teyla nodded her head and now stood with her stomach pressing up against McKay's knees. Her eyes looked up at him innocently and she put both her hands on his knees in front of her.

She was dressed in some Athosian nightwear (having retrieved some children's clothes from her home world several days ago) which were a pearly white. They wrinkled and allowed McKay to see the girl in the dark.

"Okay, okay…" McKay said drowsily. He slowly stood from his bed, Teyla never moving from his side. The man shook his head and headed for the control panel to turn on the lights when a loud clap of thunder shook the city and lighting streaked across the window, lighting up the room.

There was a shriek from the girl and McKay felt Teyla grab his legs, her face buried into his side. "Oh," he whispered, realizing what had driven the girl to his room. Putting a comforting hand on the back of Teyla's hand, McKay kneeled down to look into the girl's eyes. There were tears glistening in her eyes and she was biting her lip. She seemed to be ashamed of her fear and McKay tried to smile the best he could.

"Now, now, there's nothing to be afraid of. It's just an atmospheric discharge of electricity… oh, no you wouldn't understand that. Listen," McKay pulled Teyla in a little closer and cupped her cheek in his hand. The girl seemed comforted by the touch and McKay continued, "There is nothing out there can hurt you while I'm here, got it? That storm, well its bark is worse than its bite." McKay snapped his teeth at the girl and tickled her sides a little. Teyla giggled and gave him a smile. "There you go, now c'mon. I'll stay with you until its over, okie doke?"

"Okie doke," Teyla echoed, now putting on a brave smile.

"That's a girl," McKay whispered, wiping away the tears from her cheeks. He stood to his feet and Teyla slipped her hand into his.

Over the past few days McKay had become accustomed to the girl doing this. He knew once everything was back to normal he would certainly miss this small comfort. "I think I'm beginning to understand Jeanie a little," McKay whispered to himself.

They moved out into the lighted hallway, McKay's door hissing close behind them. Just as the man started to steer them towards Teyla's quarters, a shadow on the floor caught his eye. Pausing for a moment, McKay sighed and smiled, calling out kindly, "Checking up on Teyla, John?"

The boy timidly stepped out from an alcove, looking down at his feet. "I-I was just making sure she was okay. I was gonna go eat something and she looked pretty scared in the hall. It's a pretty big- I mean, I'm not afraid of the storm or nothin'." The boy trailed off, looking up at McKay from under his brow. He too was dressed in some Athosian children's clothes, but his were a deep blue, a stark contrast to Teyla's own wear.

"Yes, yes," McKay and Teyla moved over to him, "You want to come and sit with us? We're going to Teyla's room to wait out the storm. And for your information, Teyla isn't afraid either. She was just checking up on me."

Teyla smiled up at McKay and looked pointedly at Sheppard, waiting for his response. The crazy-haired boy brightened up as well, a large grin playing across his face. Without another word, he raced over to the two and grabbed McKay's free hand. This made Teyla giggle and the scientist gave out a short laugh before beginning their trek once again.

However, they only got a few feet before McKay stopped again. This time he looked over his shoulder at the corner right behind them. "I suppose you were tailing John then?"

Ronon slumped into the hallway, his shoulders drooping and he was trying his best to put on a brave face. "Yeah," Ronon mumbled, looking a bit embarrassed at being caught. Yet he caught them all looking at him in puzzlement and instantly puffed his chest. "I gotta protect you guys after all!" The boy's voice was defiant and only wavered a little.

Just then, another roar from the storm overtook the city and Teyla gripped onto McKay tighter. Sheppard stepped a little closer to the man and Ronon lost his composure as he hunched down and covered his head. When the initial shock had subsided, all three children uncurled, and Ronon was quick to recover, although he eyed his friends suspiciously.

Smiling reassuringly at Ronon, McKay made sure the boy understood he wouldn't tell anyone he flinched. Ronon seemed to get the message and gave a wary smile back. "Well, what are you waiting for?" McKay said, his voice comforting and calm.

Ronon smiled at the invite and jogged up to McKay and his friends. He wore a pair of velvet pjs that had once belonged to one of the smaller scientist before they had shrunk in the wash. They suited him well, and McKay let go of Sheppard's hand only for a moment to place it reassuringly on Ronon's back.

The Satedan boy caught McKay's eye and the scientist was relieved to see that although Ronon was afraid, their presence comforted him.

The foursome moved down the halls, taking their time but moving quick enough to beat the next roll of thunder to Teyla's quarters. McKay released their hands and picked Teyla up a little so that the girl could swipe her palm over the panel. The door opened and immediately the three children raced inside and for the bed. McKay laughed to himself and stepped into his friend's home, the door hissing close behind him as the hallway lights dimmed for the night.

::-:TBC:-::

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_Darn this music! v.v Hope ya'll liked it!  
_


	7. Dream Ridden

**Disclaimer:** Blah, blah, blah.

**A/N:** I had a lot of trouble writing this one. Forgive me if it's not that good of a chapter! V.V *sigh* Okie doke, getting close to the end. Probably only three chapters left after this one. ^-^ Thanks everyone for reading and super thanks to those who reviewed!

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::-:SGA:-::

**Chapter 7: Dream Ridden**

"I said no, now that's final!" McKay huffed and moved to finish zipping up his tac-vest. It was just a little after nine in the morning and the scientist was trying to get ready to go off-world.

Fortunately, Weir had assembled the "cleanup" crew faster than she had estimated. There were many volunteers. And after another scout had confirmed that the entrance to the tunnels was still structurally sound, McKay wasted no time in gearing up and gathering supplies for prying information from the consoles.

On the unfortunate side, Sheppard and Ronon had woken fairly early and had set out to find their friend first thing. Now the boys stood in front of the scientist, Sheppard wearing a simple t-shirt and Athosian pants, Ronon adorning a sleeveless leather shirt, his unruly hair tied back. They were pouting as best as they could.

The two looked incredibly upset at the word that the man was going off-world. But even more so because McKay had denied Sheppard's request to go flying in one of the 'jumpers with Lorne that afternoon.

"But you'll be off-world and Uncle Carson won't let us do _anything_ fun! Please?! I'm not gonna fly it!" Sheppard whined, hoping to break McKay before he went through the gate.

McKay sighed, and turned to face the boys, throwing his rucksack over his shoulders. "John, I said no. Don't ask me why, and don't ask again!" McKay gave the boy a silent warning, then gave the same look to Ronon. The Satedan had been silent most of the morning, still upset about waking up and not finding McKay in the room. When there was no response from either of his charges, McKay let out a sigh and seemed to brighten a little.

"Fine!" Sheppard mumbled, crossing his arms and putting out his lip. The scientist sighed, he had seen this side of the boy several times over the last four days. Surprisingly, Sheppard's little tantrums usually didn't last more than a few awkward moments, then he was back to his bouncy and energetic self.

Ruffling Sheppard's hair, which the boy endured reluctantly, McKay reminded them, "Now, I'll only be gone a few hours. Tell Teyla I said goodbye and make sure she sees Carson before too long. She didn't look too good last night, but that might've been the storm." _Although she's slept in pretty late,_ he started to move from the armory and head for the jumper bay, the boys towing behind. They didn't even try to hide their disappointment.

"As usual: be on your best behavior, listen to Elizabeth and Carson, don't bother Zelenka, after I go don't hang out in the gate room or the jumper bay, don't over exert Teyla, and _please_!" McKay stopped and turned to them, "Please, try to keep the city from burning while I'm gone, hmm?"

Sheppard and Ronon still remained silent, their eyes glaring from under their brows. They may have only looked seven, but their eyes held all the anger and annoyance of an adult. Feeling a bit uncomfortable under the gaze, McKay fidgeted a little, "Right," and continued down the corridor. Giving each other an uncertain look, the two boys slowly followed after the man.

::-:SGA:-::

It was cold, terribly cold and frighteningly dark. It was numb, unbearably numb and ruefully empty. There was nothing, and yet there was all. She was alone, lost, forgotten. Taking a step forward, Teyla found herself in a strange dark place. There was only total darkness around her and a gray light emanated from the base of her feet, lighting up only her body.

"Hello?" the young girl called, her voice echoing in the eternal night. Watching her visible breath before her, Teyla took another step. It felt weird, like she was walking in water. "Is anyone there?" Teyla called again, this time feeling something grasping her heart.

It was a terrible and mortifying touch; like the icy fingers of death. They gripped her heart and they squeezed, sending fear into her. Crying out in pain, Teyla doubled over and put a hand on her chest. "Stop it!" she cried, futilely hoping someone had heard her plea. Then, as if something had been listening, the icy fingers released the girl.

Taking the only chance she had, Teyla rose to her feet and bounded into the darkness. Tears streamed down her face and fell behind the girl as she ran. There was nothing she could do and the fear kept her from thinking straight, and so she continued to run.

Her breath became quickly and the vapor from each breath blurred her vision for only a moment. She needed to get somewhere, she needed to reach someone. Where and who Teyla did not know, but she felt it. Felt it deep down that something was wrong, that someone was in great pain. Suddenly, her heart pulled and her stomach twisted.

Gasping, Teyla fell to the floor and curled up in pain. Pulling her knees to her chest, she cried. Cried for it to end, cried for the pain to leave, cried to be comforted. "Help me," she whispered, her voice disappearing into the darkness, "Please."

"Do not be afraid," Teyla snapped out of it, the pain suddenly washing away. Looking up from her spot on the ground, the young girl's eyes grew wide with the vision before her. It was her, well not her exactly, as she once was, before the accident. It was her grown-up self. The woman was robed in white and held a pure glow about her. Everything bobbed as if underwater, and a kind face smiled down on the child.

Propping her body up with one arm, Teyla was unsure of what to say, so instead, she was silent. The once foreboding darkness no longer pressing in on her and almost completely forgotten.

"Why do you cry?" The older woman asked.

"Because I am lost," Teyla replied, not being able to hold back the sorrow in her voice.

"No you are not," Teyla looked upon her older self, confusion edging in her eyes. The woman kneeled down in front of Teyla and held out her hand. "You are simply out of place. But do not worry, soon you will be where you belong and I shall return to where I belong. I only wish we could both be in this world. Do you understand?"

Teyla looked at the woman, her mind desperately trying to comprehend what was being said. Then, in a moment of absolute understanding, Teyla realized what she was trying to tell herself. Taking in the wiser set of eyes, Teyla slowly shook her head and took the woman's hand. The glowing figure smiled and helped pull the girl to her feet.

"Good, now you must return to your birthplace child. Your friends will follow and then I too shall be reunited with the ones I care about." The woman's voice was fading, and although it still held its strength, Teyla feared the voice would disappear from her mind completely.

"Wait! How do I get back?! They won't allow me-" Teyla stopped, the woman holding up a calm hand as her image began to fade.

"Trust yourself. Go to the planet where this all began. Go, and be sure that only those who first entered the room will disturb it again," the image of the woman wavered and a look of worry struck across Teyla's face. "Do not be afraid child. Follow the path you know is right and all shall be as it should be with the world. Now go!"

Teyla bolted up from under the covers of her bed. Her breath was heavy, her hair was a mess, and she struggled to catch her breath. Recalling parts of the dream, Teyla tried desperately to hold the images and words in her mind. Why did the woman speak in riddles? She could no longer understand what she had wanted to say.

Suddenly, all the hidden meanings came to her. The cryptic words were dissected from her mind and became clear. "I'm… I'm…" letting out a sigh, Teyla realized what she was and what had to happen. Not really worried about the absence of her friends, Teyla curled back up under covers and allowed her heavy heart to break and the tears to fill her eyes. It was frightening prospect, what she had to do, but she knew it was right.

::-:TBC:-::

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_Why am I so mean to Teyla? Maybe I should get some help... Next chapter happy!_


	8. Stubborn

**Disclaimer:** Hair is for mortals!

**A/N:** Yay! Almost done this story. I like this chapter, ^-^ it was good to write. Okay, so I lied. I think I'll have this chapter, the next one, and another one, and another one. =P Okie doke? That means three left after this! Yay! Oh thankies to everyone who reviewed and have at least read this far! ^-^

P.S. Super sowwy about the late update! I've just been worked up with Turkey day, then my birthday, and on top of shopping and cooking I've been sick! Wonderful! But, you know, I made it through. =P

P.S.S. Bit long. Sowwy bout that too. V**.**V

* * *

::-:SGA:-::

**Chapter 8: Stubborn**

McKay stood at the rear of the jumper, the heels of his feet only inches from the hatch. He couldn't believe it, he just couldn't. They had tagged along side him since they woke up and now it looked as if they were determined to follow him all the way back to P4R-157. Tapping the side of the tablet tucked under his arm, McKay looked impatiently down on Ronon and Sheppard, who were becoming increasingly persistent on the matter of jumper ride.

"Please, please, please?!" Sheppard begged for the umpteenth time that morning. His hands were clasped before him, and large pleading eyes bore into McKay. But the scientist would not budge. The man didn't even flinch under Ronon's increasingly angry glare. Instead he held his ground and looked sternly at the two boys.

"Major Lorne'll be with us! I mean, c'mon!" Sheppard was almost ready to kneel down and kiss McKay's feet. He had only a few short seconds before his babysitter would stride into the jumper and Sheppard would be left to Carson's care. If McKay did not cave by then, all hope was lost of ever flying in that jumper until this whole mess was sorted out (and by the grumbled words of the engineers that could take weeks).

McKay let out a huff of irritation, Sheppard had been trying to bargain ever since they left the armory. He offered chores, best behavior, even extra MREs whenever they went out on missions.

McKay had considered taking the last bribe, but decided it wasn't worth it. The scientist was more worried about Lorne giving in and handing over the controls to a seven year old boy, then always having something extra to eat on off-world missions.

Now the boy was pushing towards the guilt tactic, trying to break McKay before he left.

"It's the least you can do after what happened to us! What if you can't fix us huh? What if the place is too damaged? What if it can't be reversed? This all _your _fault you know! Just let me go, please?! You owe us." John's voice became heavy and angry with the last few words. He was getting irritated that he hadn't had his way yet.

McKay had had enough. Throwing his tablet onto the jumper bench behind him, McKay turned angry eyes on Sheppard. When he spoke, his tone was deadly and sharp. It left no room for argument and someone would think he was finally speaking to the adult-Sheppard again and not the kid before him.

"You have no right to lay that on me! You understand? I had no idea that the machine would produce such side effects and I've saved your asses enough times I think you're the ones owing me!

"This has been hard enough already and I don't need your snot-nose-get-whatever-you-want attitude at the moment. You're not going in that jumper and that's final! And for your information, you're the one who said I could fix this!"

At that, McKay signaled for one of the marines in the background. The soldier understood and put a hand on Ronon and Sheppard's shoulders. Slightly tugging, the marine began to pull the boys away from the jumper so the aircraft could take off.

However, right before he was lead away, Sheppard glared up at McKay, not able to restrain any of the anger in his kid-like features. "I hate you," he growled before following the marine out of the jumper bay.

McKay froze at Sheppard's words.

They hurt… and he hadn't expected them to hurt.

He felt, well, he felt a bit empty. Like he wasn't all completely there.

Sure, he had used those very same words when he was a child, but his father just seemed to shrug it off. Was this… was this how he had felt? It was as if Sheppard had just delivered a quick punch, then laughed.

"Huh," was all McKay could get out, his hand unknowingly reaching out for the boy that had disappeared only a few moments ago. Shaking his head, McKay tried to clear his mind and let the words simply wash away.

Moving towards the front of the jumper, McKay looked back over his shoulder for a moment, then watched the hatch close before taking his seat behind the pilot.

::-:SGA:-::

Sheppard skulked through the hallways, a silent Ronon at his side. The boy had been silent for a while, but Sheppard was too upset to really dwell on that little fact. "It's not fair!" he kept mumbling and calling out, kicking at anything he could find on the ground. His hands were shoved into his pockets.

They stopped just outside the mess hall, the two boys neglecting to grab any breakfast after Lorne had offered them the jumper ride. Letting out an angry sigh, Sheppard leaned against the wall, his hands still shoved into his pockets. His eyes wandered around the corridor and into the mess hall, then they came back out and looked up at the silent Satedan beside him.

"What's your problem?" Sheppard asked, scowling at his friend.

"Nothing," Ronon grumbled, returning the look and hunching his shoulders, "What's your problem?" He spat back.

Sheppard huffed and pushed off the wall, "My problem?! I ain't got a problem!" Glancing up at their marine escort, Sheppard allowed a wicked grin to cross his face. The gears in his mind were turning and clicking, then they finally locked into place.

Leaning in on Ronon, Sheppard whispered as if sharing a secret. "I got a solution," then the boy pulled back and gave the marine an innocent smile. Ronon was a little confused, but decided to play along. After all, whatever Sheppard had in mind had to be better than hanging around the infirmary all day.

"Sergeant Whimmer? Could you go check up on Teyla?" Sheppard's voice was coated in honey, then dunked in powdered sugar, and rolled in candy. His eyes looked at the soldier imploringly and his hands were grasped behind his back.

Ronon grinned at this and joined in with his friend. "Yeah, Major Lorne's guarding the door, but he has lots of stuff to do. Plus, I heard you have kids of your own right?"

Whimmer just looked down at the children, not sure if he should trust them. Eyeing them for a moment, Whimmer weighed his choices. Go check up on Teyla and please the children (leaving them here w/out a marine), or stay and have them sulking and whining, and most likely trying to cause all kinds of Hell. Sighing, Whimmer felt sorry for McKay and then was jealous that the man had escaped so easily from them.

"You guys have to stay with someone while I go okay?" He warned, pointedly shaking his index finger. "I'll only be a few minutes, maybe she'll be up, and I don't want you two running around getting into trouble."

Sheppard nodded excitedly and Ronon put on his most sweetest smile. "I think I saw Heightmeyer in there. We'll go say hi!" Ronon offered, glancing back into the mess hall and hoping the woman didn't suddenly appear.

Looking at them a bit incredulously, the sergeant finally gave him with an exasperated sigh. "Alright. I'll report back in-" Whimmer almost slapped himself. Sheppard had no military status at the moment and Whimmer had to remind himself of this. "I'll be back," he lamely concluded and slowly moved away from the boys. He was too preoccupied with murmuring to himself about the situation to notice the wicked grins directed at his back.

"Now what?" Ronon grunted, realizing his stomach was suddenly speaking louder than his mischievous mind. "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry," the Satedan turned to the entrance way of the mess hall and eyed the pans full of hot scrambled eggs and the massive pile of bacon beside them.

Groaning out of the corner of his mouth, Sheppard took a hold of his friend's forearm and barely managed to turn Ronon away from the mess hall. "C'mon, we can eat later!" However, Ronon resisted, demanding why they had to be in a hurry seeing as they got rid of their babysitter.

Sheppard sighed, and faced the Satedan. "Because, I don't want Teyla to know what we're doing! I'd feel bad if she wanted to come along, but I'm not risking her snitching on us!" the crazy-haired boy went to tug on Ronon's arm again, but the larger boy easily pulled it free. "Ronon!" Sheppard whined.

"Where are we going?!" Ronon demanded, becoming a little frustrated and irritated at the idea of not eating breakfast for a while longer.

Sighing, Sheppard rolled back his shoulder and complained, "To the jumper bay! They're cleaning some ships out this morning! But we gotta hurry. So let's go-" Sheppard this time did not allow the Satedan to escape as he stormed down the hallway and disappeared around a corner.

::-:SGA:-::

"Wow, could this day get any worse? I don't think so," McKay mumbled, looking at the map displayed before him and praying he was reading it wrong.

The "cleanup" crew had made it to the entrance of the tunnels (a shabby alcove that cubbied a small square console) and McKay quickly set to work, interfacing with the only control console in the room. Instantly, he was able to access the 3D map that allowed him to monitor the conditions of the tunnels in real time. Currently the map only showed downed walls and ceilings.

The sensors attached to the map had been damaged, so little debris was shown, but by the way the metal walls bent, McKay knew there was no going back into the facility. If it was even still there that is.

Sighing, the scientist pressed a button on the laptop before him and watched anxiously as the data from the console was downloaded. It didn't seem like his friends were going to be restored to normal any time soon. The crew would certainly work as fast as they could, but the odds of getting the job done in just a few days weren't good.

Plus, they had to contend with the idea that the facility had been destroyed in the earthquake. There was little support holding up the ceiling and the only sign that it might've held was the fact that there wasn't a gaping hold marring the grassy landscape. In fact, if anything, the lands seemed more lush than before.

With a content beep, the laptop finished its download and McKay unhooked the computer. He always showed it great care, the laptop proving to be his most important tool on many occasions. Of course, one of his favorites was the simple Ancient scanner, which told him almost everything he needed to know before activating a device.

Chuckling at the thought of his computer being jealous of the scanner, McKay strapped the thing back onto his pack and moved out of the alcove.

P4R-157 was a mild and comfortable planet. For the most part, it was like one big plain. Flat and green. Springy grass grew no longer than a few inches, and shrubs and trees scattered the landscape. In fact, the lonely alcove seemed awkward, protruding from the ground. It was more like a pimple on the face of the planet than anything else.

The skies were clear and little puffs of clouds seemed lost in the vast blue. At the moment, the sun didn't beat down on them, it just seemed to glance the planet, keeping it relatively warm. As far as McKay could tell, animal life was abundant in the plains. But it seemed the inhabitants of the world had become wary of the jumpers and obviously moved on to safer grounds.

McKay wondered why the people of this planet had moved on through the stargate. After all, they their underground city to keep from be detected by the Wraith, and above ground was basically one big crop field they could've used. Sighing, the scientist remembered why he was here in the first place. The earthquake. It seemed only a matter of time before their little paradise in the dark collapsed.

Spotting the jumper only a few meters away, McKay began to move towards it. The crew that had accompanied him were already getting to work on emptying the jumper. They had shovels and jackhammers (acquired from Earth) and buckets. They would begin to break up the larger debris and bucket it out. McKay had warned that the ground was unstable and it was likely the roof would collapse with the walls bent so wildly.

Leader of the crew, Michael Ravierez, had asked if getting to that facility was the only way to help the colonel. A little taken by surprise by that question, McKay agreed, and Ravierez put on a determined look. He stated if it looked like the tunnels wouldn't hold, they try digging in from the top. If that didn't work, they'd find another way in. McKay was very grateful for the determination the entire crew showed. He doubted the work would take more than a couple days with them on the job.

As he stepped closer to the jumper, Ravierez was just pulling out some cable in case they had to go down through the roof of the facility. The stocky man smiled at McKay and the scientist returned the gesture as he moved past the man and into the cockpit of the jumper. He figured he outta download the data into the little craft while he had a chance. Something always seemed to happen to his computer.

Just as he plugged the little laptop into the jumper, the com for the aircraft crackled to life.

"_Jumper 7, this is Atlantis, please respond." _

Confused, a little worried at the tone of Weir's voice, McKay moved to the pilot seat and pressed the com. "Atlantis, this is McKay."

"_Rodney? We need you to get back here as soon as possible. There's a little problem…" _Weir's voice trailed off, as if she wasn't sure of what had really happened.

_Problem? With what? Must be important if they're trying to drag me away from the facility, _McKay thought. And with a sigh he asked, "What happened Dr. Weir?"

There was a long pause on the other end and McKay found himself disquieted by that little fact. Then he noticed that a knot was slowly forming in his stomach and his heart kicked up a beat or two. Something was wrong, he knew something was wrong. He desperately didn't want to be right at the moment, but he was always right! _Damn it_, McKay thought as Weir's voice once again filled the jumper.

"_Colonel Sheppard and Ronon have stolen a jumper…" _

::-:TBC:-::

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_Uh oh... _


	9. Grand Theft Jumper

**Disclaimer:** Wonderboy, what is the secret of your power?

**A/N:** Yay! Only two chapters left after this one! Thankies to everyone for at least making it this far, and congratulations at that too. Hope you enjoy! Oh! Bit hard for me to write this one. Sowwy for late update! The other two should come faster though! My, my this long!

* * *

::-:SGA:-::

**Chapter 9: Grand Theft Jumper**

"What the hell do you mean they just took it?!" McKay slammed his fist into the dash of the puddlejumper. Immediately regretting the decision, he waved his hand in the air, hissing as the craft flew towards the activated gate. Over the com, Weir was struggling to explain how two seven year old boys had managed to steal a jumper and take it out of the city.

"_I'm sorry Rodney, they tricked their way out of being watched. When Sergeant Whimmer-"_

"Is he the one I should blame for this?!" McKay hissed. He barely knew Whimmer, but from the few words Sheppard had said about the man, the sergeant was a good soldier albeit a push over.

"_No, no we're not putting the blame on anyone. As I was trying to say, they tricked Sergeant Whimmer into going to check up on Teyla, while they 'got breakfast'. As soon as he was gone, from what we can tell of the CCTV, is that they snuck off to the jumper bay." _

"How is Teyla?" McKay asked, his voice softer this time as he remembered that the little girl had yet to awaken when he departed. He was concerned for his teammate. She had squirmed and was restless most of the night. He doubted it was just from the storm being there. Something else was bothering the Athosian.

There was another crackle from the radio, and a sweet, worried voice washed into McKay's ears. _"I am fine Uncle Rodney! Why'd you leave without me?"_ the child demanded, sounding a little put out that the man had not said goodbye.

McKay allowed a small smile to cross his lips as he imagined the girl pouting to Weir about the whole situation. He wondered how the older woman would be taking the responsibility. Shaking his head, McKay let out a sigh, happy to see that at least one of his charges had behaved.

"I'm sorry sweetie," the word was out before he could stop himself and McKay winced as someone giggled in the background, "I didn't have time to say goodbye and I didn't want to wake you."

"_Well next time! Wake me. At least then John and Ronon have a conscience following them around," _the girl's comment was rewarded by sniggers from parties on both lines. Teyla sounded self satisfied and Weir took over the radio again.

"_We've already sent out jumper to look for them, unfortunately there's been no progress. Scans show they're not in the water, so we can rest a little easy. Still…"_

McKay pursed his lips as he approached the even horizon, leveling the jumper with the gait, the man finished Weir's sentence. "Every little bit helps right?" There was a small confirmation and then he was through the wormhole.

"_Right. Dr. Beckett will meet you in the jumper bay. You can head out immediately." _

Without another word, McKay lowered the jumper to skin the surface of the planet and was through the event horizon with a quick though.

::-:SGA:-::

"Nice landing," Ronon grumbled, dragging himself from the co-pilot seat of the jumper. He had been plastered to the seat mercilessly as the small aircraft had plummeted to the earth. Apparently, the inertial dampeners gave out after the umpteenth tree they broke in half.

"Shut up," Sheppard groaned, engulfed by the Ancient chair he was sitting in. Jarred from his piloting seat for a moment when they skimmed the top of a tree trying to gain altitude, Sheppard had managed to lose control of the jumper. The thing had plummeted to the planet's surface and only by shear luck had the boy was barely able to pull the nose up so they only skidded across the ground, kicking up dirt and debris on their way.

They'd come to a stop after dirt-surfing about for a hundred yards. Both groaned and Sheppard realized his day wasn't going as planned.

Oh sure, it all seemed like a good idea at first. Psych their newest babysitter, sneak to the jumper bay, steal a puddle jumper, fly it out of Atlantis, have fun on the mainland flying the damn thing. Easier said than done. It was all good up until the fly it out of Atlantis and to the mainland part. Yes, Sheppard still could fly anything anytime. However, it is much more difficult when your head can't quite see over the dashboard and the HUD doesn't seem to like children.

Some how the pair had managed to make it to the shore of the mainland, their jumper holding out okay. Sheppard was eager to land and unfortunately the jumper was just as eager to be rid of its sticky and bouncy passengers. With a quick dive, too fast for the young boy to counter, the jumper had broken through the top of a tree, heading for earth.

Managing to wrestle the ship back into his control, Sheppard desperately tried to drive the jumper out of the forest. Ronon wasn't very happy about the developing situation and started yelling direction to Sheppard.

"Go up! Go up!"

"What do you think I'm doin'?"

"Well your not flying that's for sure."

"You wanna fly us outta here?"

"I'd at least get us above the killer trees!"

"Fine!" Sheppard let go of the controls, halfway clear of the forest, and the jumper immediately began to spiral out of control. Neither boy could help the screaming. They barely kept the belly of the ship from scraping the hard earth as Sheppard came to his senses and retook the craft. The little stunt earned a rather intimidating glare from Ronon.

"Hold on!" was the last thing Sheppard had said, short of screaming, while he tried to maneuver in the thick forest. Many trees suffered at the hands of the seven year old and when the dampeners gave out the boys were jiggled like Jell-O on a washing machine.

Now, however, they sat in their respective spots. Ronon was nursing a bruise on his elbow while Sheppard, albeit unharmed, moaned and groaned about the condition of the jumper As soon as the aircraft had come to a stop, everything shut down. The boys were left in semi-darkness, relying on the sun to give them sight.

There was no point in going outside. After all, there could be dangerous creatures and unknown dangers on the planet. Although this prospect would usually be exciting, at the moment it was only disquieting. Sheppard was admitting he was afraid to just think about going outside. Even Ronon was eyeing the back hatch warily and obviously alert for any sounds.

So the boys sat there in the silence, their breathing amazingly loud as it echoed off the confined walls. Ronon didn't like it, too small, too much closeness, not enough open. He wished the windshield to the thing could be removed or rolled down, or something! Maybe have air vents work on backup batteries. He hated the stagnant and foul feel of the still air. It just wasn't right. It just…

Giving a small shudder, the Satedan turned away from his friend, hoping Sheppard had not seen his sudden lapse of bravery. No, he had to stay strong for the other boy. Even if it meant going completely mad in the jumper. Sighing as his fear passed, Ronon once again turned in his seat and looked at the back hatch. He'd have to get out sooner or later. No matter the risks. It just wasn't to last long in the jumper. Not while they were landed at least.

Sheppard watched Ronon glare at the hatch, as if he could will it to remain shut forever. Funny thought, Sheppard decided, seeing as Ronon wasn't quite happy about closed in small spaces. And although the jumper looked a little roomy from time to time, it was definitely small. No room to do anything! _Well_, Sheppard decided, _not enough room for adults anyway. _

Sliding from his chair, the crazy-haired boy had a little idea. Hopefully one that the Satedan would go along with. He knew that Atlantis would be searching for them, and perhaps, with a bit of luck, they'd be out of this jumper in no time and back to the Ancient city. However, in case they weren't really searching _really_ hard, the two could be stuck there for a while.

"What are you doing?!" Ronon snapped, leaning over his chair to stare at the crawling Sheppard. The boy didn't stop his slow progress to the back of the jumper, his but wiggling at the Satedan as he crawled on all fours to one of the benches.

Sheppard merely glanced over his shoulder as he turned and sat crossed legged before the bench. His eyes held a certain glint in them, and Ronon knew something would go very wrong, very soon. Scrambling from his chair at this thought, Ronon came to stand in the bulkhead doorway, narrowing his eyes in the darkness to see what his friend was doing.

The black headed child was all too interested in the cleaning supplies and information tablet left by one of the crew when they had stolen the ship. Amazingly, none of it had been broken in the jostling of the jumper. Upon crash landing though, the stuff had skittered and scattered across the back. Now Sheppard's greedy little hands grabbed at it and set it up on the bench before him.

Finally sensing Ronon's scrutinizing eyes were upon him, Sheppard turned to his friend and tried to impart some confidence with a loose smile and tightly closed eyes. It worked, a little.

"Trying to find something for us to do! Figure we're gonna be here all day," Sheppard eyed the supplies strapped above them over the bench, "Might as well make the most of it."

Catching were Sheppard was glancing, Ronon smiled and moved into the back of the jumper. Not even trying, Ronon stepped up onto the bench and reached for the red MRE case. It housed an exceptional supply of meals and power bars.

They had purposely snagged this jumper for that very reason. The cleanup crew had been ordered to restock all of the jumper's supplies and Sheppard had spotted one of the crew members carrying the case into the jumper.

Eagerly, Ronon dropped the case onto the bench before Sheppard. There was a satisfying crunch from the information tablet and an even more appealing thud of a heavy case. Ronon grinned expectantly and Sheppard quickly unzipped it. There was a waft of fresh dehydrated food and sweet, sweet power bars. Of course only a child would understand the appeal these things had. Scoffing, Sheppard remembered McKay.

And then he remembered McKay.

"Oh crap," Sheppard hissed.

::-:SGA:-::

Teyla peered out between the two front seats. Her little head barely looked out over the dash, taking in the mainland forest as it rolled by. She personally liked the field of flowers and such, but at the moment they couldn't pass over those. No, they had to head towards Sheppard and Ronon.

Sighing, Teyla hoped her friends were okay. It had become painstakingly obvious they were in the trouble almost as soon as they could see the continent before them. The path the three passengers had decided upon was a lucky choice, for almost immediately they were confronted with broken trees and turned up dirt. It was a long and destructive path, a path made by two seven year old boys.

Sighing again, the young Athosian sank back into her seat, looking dishearten. She had badgered McKay into letting her come and the scientist argued with Beckett until the Scot said gave in. It only took them about fifteen minutes to prepare and another half hour to get to the mainland. McKay was flying and had become considerably good at it. He may be no John Sheppard, but he certainly was more steady than Carson.

Speaking of which, Teyla perked a little when the doctor turned his head over his shoulder to see the young girl. His face gave her a small, sad smile when he saw the look on her face. Figuring she couldn't hide her emotions as well as she had hoped, Teyla tried to look reassured and it seemed to work when the Scot turned back to peer out the windshield.

McKay gave a quick glance as well, seeing the doctor's movement out of the corner of his eye. The scientist had been very edgy ever since he returned. He was short with some of Beckett's staff only trying to help and even shorter with the marines. Whenever he spoke to Carson, it seemed to be in whispers and his voice was so cautious and sweet towards her. He was shaken up, and had been mostly silent on the trip to the mainland.

Something had happened, she could tell; something definitely had the man second guessing himself.

"Uncle Rodney," Teyla finally piped up. McKay didn't slow the jumper down and tried his best to keep his concentration as he looked back at the girl, his eyebrows raising questioningly. Teyla gave him a small smile and sat a little straighter in her chair. She had the sudden urge to be next to the man, to hold his hand in her again. After her unnerving dream, Teyla felt she had to be closer and closer to the scientist.

Scooting to the edge of her seat, the little girl leaned forward and asked innocently, "Can I sit on your lap?"

At this Carson turned and both men gave Teyla a puzzling look. She easily kept her smile small and her eyes dim, although their looks threatened to send the little child flopping around the jumper in laughter. McKay seemed to consider Teyla's request. The girl hung on to the edge of her chair a little more in anticipation and remained hopefully.

After taking a few short moments to mull it over, McKay smiled fully down at the girl. "I don't see why not. C'mon, you can fly!" He waved a hand to the front and immediately Teyla allowed her joy explode all over her face. Carson chuckled at the bright eyes and wide smile his friend had received from the girl.

It didn't take Teyla too long to get comfortable, easily slipping onto the man's lap and wriggling into place. She was small enough that McKay only had to lift his chin a little to see over her head and the girl was able to cross her legs in front of her. Staring up at McKay, she openly displayed her excitement. McKay gave her a soft look before turning back to the HUD. Teyla did the same and stared anxiously at the handles before her.

Momentarily taking his hands from the controls, keeping the jumper steady with his mind, McKay grasped Teyla's smal hands in his own and placed them on the handles. Of course he couldn't fully let go, but the girl would be able to at least keep the craft steady under his guidance.

"Okay now," McKay cooed, keeping Teyla's arms steady against his, "Just keep her straight. They might feel like they want to go off to the side once in a while, but you just keep them like that and… you're flying!" McKay pulled his hands completely away, keeping a grip on the ship with his mental connection. It was a bit hard to fly, but Teyla's steady concentration helped.

Teyla's face was utter pleasure as she stuck her tongue out of the side of her mouth and leaned forward to glare at the land before her. She did her best to stay on the path her missing teammates had blazed, and found it quite exhilarating to finally be flying a jumper. Naturally, she knew it McKay keeping them in the air, but deep down she couldn't help but be proud of herself for the accomplishment.

And then her eyes caught something.

It was a shimmer in the sunlight. She nearly missed it, but upon looking again, Teyla found the reflective surface rather easy to spot in the dense forest. Letting out a gasp, Teyla turned up to tell McKay, but the man had already seen. Gently taking control over the jumper again, the scientist guided the jumper to its twin, sitting in the dirt right below them.

::-:SGA:-::

Sheppard sat happily swiveling in the pilot's chair. He munched down a honey nut grahm power bar and licked his lips with every delicious bite. Wrappers were strewn all across the jumper cockpit. Mostly power bar wrappers, but a few MRE packages as well. Ronon had cleverly added bottles of water to the packages and simply heated them up with a lighter. Sure, the plastic melted a little, but you really didn't eat the grime that stuck to the bottom anyway.

Letting out a rather long and content sigh, Sheppard crumpled up his wrapper and tossed it to the dash to join the others. That was their last bar. A little sad to see the thing go, Sheppard looked over to Ronon.

The Satedan had dozed off in the afternoon sun and now lay with his arms and legs thrown haphazardly over the side of his chair. A soft snore filled the cockpit and Sheppard grinned manically.

Ronon's own pile of power bar wrappers was at least three times greater than Sheppard's. Ronon had also nabbed all the meaty bars before Sheppard even had a chance to look into the case.

Trying not to laugh, Sheppard slipped from his seat as another idea popped into his mind. It might not have been as great as his last thought, hell it could be his last thought!-but it sure would be interesting to carry out.

Crawling quietly over to the Satedan's seat, Sheppard peeked up over the arm and made sure that the larger boy was asleep. Keeping himself from giggling with excitement as another raucous snore erupted from Ronon, Sheppard pulled up the warm bottle of water that had been lying on the floor. Unscrewing the cap, Sheppard placed it gently on the ground and lifted up one of Ronon's hands.

Positioning the finger above the bottle opening, making sure not to disturb the Satedan, Sheppard prepared to drop the finger right into the warm water. Closing his eyes, Sheppard took in a small breath and was about to let go when a familiar noise crashed into his ears.

Ronon had obviously heard the noise as well. Snapping from his sleep, Ronon growled as he wretched his hand away from Sheppard. For a moment the crazy-haired boy only stared up at his friend, his face a mix of surprise and curiosity. Then the noise got closer and as it seemed to settle, both boys scrambled from their spots towards the back hatch.

There was no denying the slight hum of the puddle jumper and the urgent thud it made when it landed. Then through the hatch door, Sheppard and Ronon could hear the door to the other jumper open and immediately three voices called their names. All of them sounded worried and there was the sound of pounding boots coming towards them.

Without a moments hesitation, Sheppard ran to the bulkhead and reached up for the emergency release of the hatch. He couldn't reach. Frustrated, the boy leapt onto the bench seat and jumped again. His little fingers wrapped around the handle and gravity finished the job, pulling the boy and the handle down.

With an echoing thud, Sheppard steadied himself on the ground and turned around just in time to see the back hatch opening. Quickly, he jogged up next to Ronon, who wasn't looking too excited about the rescue, and bounced on his feet. By the sound of voices, Sheppard had guessed that Teyla, McKay, and Beckett had come.

_Oh_, Sheppard though, realizing why Ronon wasn't sharing in his joy. The smile slowly slid away from the pilot's face, as the hatch finished its decent and rested on the ground, destroying the soft grass beneath. Both boys could clearly see the jogging figures come closer to them. As soon as the people realized the boys were alright their jogs slowed.

Sheppard suddenly felt something grab his heart, as McKay didn't want for the others' relief to wash away before he quickly quickened his pace and walked even faster towards the boys. Taking a few steps back, Sheppard gazed into the bright eyes of the scientist. Their once bright blue now seemed to turn a terribly cold and dark shade of ice. The worry that had once kept his features slack, now disappeared and fury had the man furrowing his brow with intimidating anger.

With a shove, Sheppard caught Ronon's attention, the Satedan stumbling from the sudden attack. "Hurry!" Sheppard hissed, not allowing his friend to catch his feet before pulling Ronon up and pushing him towards the bulkhead. "Close the hatch! Close the hatch!"

"Right, right!" Ronon cried out, the stun at seeing McKay quickly being replaced by the urge to move. It suddenly felt like a life or death situation.

Scampering to his feet, Ronon pushed off the wall and lunged at the bulkhead. His hands reached up and barely reached the lowered latch. Pushing to his tip-toes Ronon managed to get half of his palm under the handle. But that was as far as it got. "I can't reach!" Ronon bellowed, his voice oddly echoing inside the silent jumper.

"Hold on, I'll give you a boost!" Sheppard, turning away from the approaching mad scientist. However, before he could even take a step towards his friend, a threatening and angry voice boomed down on him, stopping everything in the boys body. He felt everything tense up, even his little itty bitty cells.

"Too late," McKay's voice was low and dangerous. It was near to a growl and Sheppard didn't have to turn around to feel the heat of the man's fury. It burned into the back of his head and he suddenly felt like making himself as small as he possible could. Maybe so small that he'd blink out of existence and Ronon would be the only one left to receive the brunt of McKay's wrath.

Slowly the seven year old boy turned around, deflated and grimacing. He kept his shoulders hunched and didn't dare look up at the man. He knew exactly what McKay would look like and didn't really want to confirm his suspicion. Instead, Sheppard risked a glance past the scientist and saw that both Beckett and Teyla had stopped, just a few yards away. They too looked to be affected by McKay's tone.

"Look at me." McKay demanded. Hesitantly, Sheppard obeyed. He heard Ronon shuffling over up beside him, apparently McKay had silently beckoned the boy.

Sheppard winced, as if from pain, when he finally caught McKay's harsh blue eyes. They were filled with a hurricane of emotion. It ranged from worry to anger to fury to hate to fear and back again. Ever circling and changing, Sheppard felt like he didn't know if McKay was going to cry or scream next. Taking a deep breath, Sheppard prepared himself for the latter.

It came.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" McKay exploded, the arms that had been tightly crossed over his chest flew out widely. Sheppard opened his mouth to answer, but McKay shook his head and held up a hand to stay Sheppard's words. "No, no you don't get to talk. The last time you said anything, I ended up here. Scared half to death! And worried sick about you two!

"I specifically told you 'no' for this very reason John! I knew you couldn't handle flying this thing, not now. But what did you do? You didn't just defy me, you stole a jumper and endangered not only your life but Ronon's as well! And don't think-" McKay pointed a finger sternly at the silent Satedan, "That you are in the least bit clear of blame here young man! Let me tell you… I, I thought at least one of you would've thought this was a bad idea?! Especially after what happened in the lab!"

McKay took in a deep breath, but didn't allow himself to calm. Sheppard and Ronon found themselves trying to back away without moving their feet. Guilt was quickly building up within the two boys. Ronon kept his face in a painful grimace while Sheppard tried to hold back the tears that threatened to overwhelm him. They had clearly hurt McKay.

"But no, no you just had to have your way," there it was. The pain the man had felt at the thought of losing the two shrinking boys before him. " Not only that, but you left Teyla alone. Of course I didn't want her in the jumper with you flying, but how could you do that to her? Your expose to protect her when I'm not here. How could you do that when your out _gallivanting_ in a lifted SPACE SHIP!" McKay's face grew red again, as his face scrunched in rage.

"Let me tell you two something, this has been hard enough without me nearly having a heart attack because of something you did just to spite me. When we get back to Atlantis, _if_ you get back to Atlantis, the only thing you're gonna be seeing for the next week is floor. As you scrub it."

As McKay went on, his words like poison to the children, Teyla watched from beside Carson. She winced whenever her friends did and she felt sorry for her babysitter as he seemed on the verge of collapsing from excitement and worry.

How could those two be that stupid? Sure, the occasional trouble making behavior was no big idea. But this time…

Sighing and shaking her head in disappointment as Sheppard tried to argue, Teyla suddenly didn't feel the head movement was such a good idea. Stopping herself, Teyla kept her eyes to the ground. Was the grass fuzzier? No, no that wasn't it. Her vision was going gray around the edges. Her head felt light, but her chest was oh so heavy. Something was wrong.

Finding it rather hard to breath, Teyla swayed in place as the darkness imposed further on her vision. Though it didn't really matter, she couldn't focus on anything. What was happening? No, she couldn't stay up much longer, but she didn't want to fall either. Letting out a small gasp, "Uncle Rodney," Teyla found her world spinning, tilting, and fall black as her body fell to the ground.

::-:TBC:-::

* * *

_Oops, I hurt Teyla again._


	10. Good Byes and Bad Hellos

**Disclaimer:** The pinecones, they're gathering. They're plotting our demise.

**To Wendyj:** Thank-you, and no worries, betta late then neva! V.V yesh, SGU should just go away! And leave my little SGA alone. I know exactly what the writers did wrong though. ;P Thanks for reading!

**A/N:** Thank-you oh so very much for your reviews! I don't think "happy" is near enough sufficient to describe how I felt when I saw them. So thank-you, and thanks goes to all my silent readers too! Glad you were able to make it this far. I do hope you don't kill me for this chapter though. One down, one more to go!

P.S. Whole story built around that one little scene at the end

P.S.S. Longest chapter eva! So I split in two yes?

P.S.S.S. Die SGU! Dieeeeeeeeee- bleh.

* * *

::-:SGA:-::

**Chapter 10 Part I: Good Byes and Bad Hellos **

Teyla desperately clung onto feeling as the world raced around her in utter darkness. The only thing that seemed to penetrate her deep mind was the concerned and rushed voices of the doctors and her friends. They never seemed to leave her. When one voice faded away, another would take its place. Sometimes the words were cheerful, encouraging. Other times they were stricken with sadness and fell upon her like a gentle rain.

She wanted to just reach out and comfort the owner of the words. To hold them, to reassure them that she was okay and everything was going to be fine. But how could it be fine? She already knew the fate that awaited not only her, but Sheppard and Ronon as well.

After a while, Teyla began to ignore the voices and accepted that she could no longer stave off sleep and bliss unconsciousness. So slowly, she drifted off to the darkness of a dreamless sleep. Shame it didn't last long.

Teyla couldn't tell how much time had passed, but it must have been at least a few hours, perhaps a whole day, before she awoke. It came slowly at first, her mind vaguely aware of what was happening outside of her own mind.

There was the slight beeping of a machine. Rhythmically it let out a happy beep, keeping in pace with Teyla's breathing. Then she realized it was her breathing that was actually following the machine. _Heart monitor_. The little girl thought.

Now knowing she was in the infirmary, Teyla tried to reach out and wake herself, find out what had happened. However, consciousness was harder to grasp then she first expected.

So, concentrating on her ears, Teyla listened. There was the constant sound of nurses and doctors mumbling to each other and moving around the infirmary. She could clearly hear the whisper of Dr. Beckett as he drew closer to the girl. The infirmary was so silent, the Athosian could even hear the scratching of the man's pen on paper. Clearly he was checking her condition.

Trying to get mouth to form a smile, Teyla just wanted to wake up already.

Pushing her mind a little harder, the young girl slowly felt her fingers twitching just as Carson seemed to disappear from her side. She gently felt the rough sheets of the bed underneath her touch and relaxed. She could still work everything it seemed, her toes wiggling under the blanket atop of her, now if only she could her eyes open!

Almost laughing at her own frustration, Teyla slowly felt the weight on her eyelids lifting. No more did she want to sleep. She needed to check on her friends as well. After all, by the sound of McKay's voice back on the planet, it did not sound like the two boys would survive the flight home. Finding new motivation, Teyla managed to crack her eyes open to little more than paper thin slits.

Everything was still fuzzy and Teyla couldn't quite focus on anything. However, the light from the infirmary gave her a vague impression of what was going on. Naturally, she was laying in a bed, IVs running from both of her arms. She felt a bit uncomfortable at the heart monitor she was hooked up to, and squirmed a little under the tight blankets. She was a bit lightheaded too.

Slightly remembering what had happened, Teyla tried to lie still, but that was proving difficult.

Suddenly, her senses were assaulted with the laughter of two very familiar boys, their shadowy figures racing past her bed. They too were dressed in white scrubs, and were they wearing helmets?

Sheppard was chasing Ronon, his fingers imitating the shape of a pistol as he let out quiet "Pshew! Pshew!" pretending to fire at his friend. The Satedan couldn't help but giggle as he leapt and ran around the girl's bed.

Sheppard nearly slammed into the side, his eyes only focusing on the larger boy. He ducked down and aimed, sticking his tongue out in concentration. That's when an older and almost annoyed voice called out, "What are you doing?!"

Sheppard turned back and laughed as he scampered over Teyla's bed and slid off the other side, nearly taking the blankets with him.

Chasing after the boy, McKay paused slightly at the foot of Teyla's bed. He was slightly flushed with anger, but looked much happier than he had on the mainland.

The scientist stopped completely, realizing the boys were now out of his reach and he'd never catch them. "John! For Pete's sake, you know what those things are?! Take 'em off !" Obviously referring to the odd helmets the boys carried on their heads.

Sighing, McKay just rubbed his hands over his face. Not really meaning to, the man looked over the tips of his fingers, his hands staying on his cheeks, and scanned Teyla up and down. Then, his mind clicked and he realized the girl was staring back at him, her eyes now fully opened and alert.

Pulling his hands away from his face, McKay put on a soft smile as he stared down at the girl. "Hey," he spoke sweetly, moving over to the girl's right. Teyla looked up at him, her large, beautiful eyes almost subdued from the drugs they had pumping through her. However, she did manage a wispy "hey" of her own.

McKay placed a gentle hand on the girl's arm, "How you feeling? Gave us quite a scare back there."

Teyla tried her best at a smile, but it turned into a grimace when she realized the pounding behind her right eye. "Headache," she whispered, closing her eyes as the pain rippled sharply through her. She could hear McKay calling for Beckett and then there was another hand on her left arm this time and a sweet Scottish Brogue filling her mind.

"Hang on luv, this should help."

Then sweet numbness washed over her, spreading from her left arm to her head. Smiling softly, Teyla reopened her eyes and looked up into the smiling face of Carson Beckett. "Thanks," she managed to pipe out.

Then her brow furrowed as she took in the doctor's eyes. The smile on his face wasn't happy, it was sad. Deeply sad. "What is it?" she asked, then turned to McKay, who was looking puzzled as well. His blue eyes sharp and concentrated on the doctor.

Beckett tried not to look up at McKay, although he knew the man's eyes were burrowing into his skull, trying to get the doctor to speak. Instead, he kept his gaze on the little girl before him, and actually fiddled with his hands a bit. "I'm sorry," he finally looked up at McKay, "Perhaps you should call the boys over. They're going to want to hear this."

::-:SGA:-::

_You should've gone back earlier. You should've demanded to go back the very next day! Now look what you've done. Stupid, stupid, STUPID! You've wasted five days and practically killed them… But you can still fix it. You still have time, **they** still have time._

McKay kept his head in his hands, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. He didn't know how long he had been like that, but it was all he could to keep himself from shuddering and his feelings neutral. Beckett had just delivered a heavy blow. A deep and heavy blow.

As it turns out, Ronon, Sheppard, and Teyla were never meant to keep this form. The transformation had done more damage than just de-age the cells. McKay hadn't quite caught all of Carson's medical explanation, but all he really needed to know was that all of Teyla's organs were failing. Slowly, but they were still failing and there was nothing Beckett or anyone else could do to stop it. Soon, Sheppard and Ronon's would start to go. _And there was nothing anyone can do to save them…_

McKay kept that line running through his head.

Surely there was something Beckett could conjure up? _Nothing anyone can do_. Save the day, keep their organs from going. _Nothing…_Perhaps a stasis chamber? _Anyone can do…_Was there enough time for him to go back and reset the machine? _To save them._ Probably not, judging by the disheartening face Beckett continued to hold. _Nothing…_

Finally, McKay let out a desperate sigh, and looked up from his hands, allowing them to fall to his side. Sheppard and Ronon were standing on either side of Teyla, looking as frightened as a mouse cornered by a cat.

Teyla on the other hand… Well, McKay had to admit he knew the girl had strength, but to face certain death with a seven year old's mind?- and remain that calm. He had greatly underestimated the Athosian.

Locking eyes with the young girl, McKay felt a wave of confidence impart from the child. He tried his best at a smile, but his lips only managed a slight twitch before falling back into a grim line. Teyla however, smiled greatly at his attempt and sat a little straighter. She wanted to say something.

Sitting a little straighter as well, McKay caught the attention of the two boys, who gave him a quick glance than peered up at Teyla.

"I have a solution," Teyla finally spoke. Her voice was stronger than before, and it demanded everyone's attention. Beckett seemed to snap out of a trance, and several passing nurses stopped and listened as well. Teyla took in everyone's face, before turning back to McKay, determination set in her eyes. "We need to return to the planet."

::-:one hour later:-::

"Stop touching me."

"I'm not touching you," Sheppard cooed, twirling his finger in a circle inches from Ronon's face.

"Stop it!" Ronon, hissed, glaring at the boy stretched out between the space of the chairs.

"I'm not touching you," Sheppard teased again, an evil grin splitting across his face.

"He's touching me!" Ronon shouted to the front of the jumper where McKay and Teyla sat.

The scientist sighed heavily at the controls of the jumper and dropped his shoulders as he continued to look forward. "John, stop touching Ronon."

"I'm not touching him!" Sheppard called indignantly from the back, looking towards the driver while keeping his finger where it had stopped twirling before Ronon's face. That was a mistake. "Ow! He bit me!"

That's when all hell broke loose. Sheppard tugged at his hand, but the little Satedan had a firm grip between his teeth. "Get off!" the crazy-haired pilot yelled, dragging Ronon over towards his seat while pushing on the Satedan's face.

Ronon simple growled and pulled back, causing Sheppard to cry out in pain. Sheppard's fist came down on Ronon's head, bashing him like he was some wild dog. "I said get off!" Teyla giggled from the front seat, peering over the chair's shoulder to watch the scene. She danced with delight in the chair, pleasantly entertained with the entire fiasco.

Ronon was relentless and Sheppard could only struggle helplessly. He was caught and the entire battle had turned into a tug of war over his hand. Sheppard glared, Ronon growled, Teyla giggled, and McKay was trying so desperately to just block it all out. Finally, when one of them, no one was sure who, spit out a curse, McKay swiveled in his seat.

His large hands easily slapped onto either child's face, the boys having pulled each other nose to nose, and pried them apart. With a gasp of pain, Sheppard recoiled his hand to his chest while Ronon growled and released the appendage. It was all McKay could do to keep the boys in their respective seats and the jumper under control in autopilot.

"Now!" McKay shouted, his words almost echoing through the small craft, "Settle down! It's very important that I'm able to think and I can't do that while you two are wrestling back here. If you don't settle, I'm gonna through you in the back, close the bulkhead, and open the rear hatch. You'll be too occupied hanging on for your life to fight, and I'll be happy!"

McKay glared at the two, whom just huffed in their chairs, taking his threat quite seriously. When he was satisfied that neither were going to stir any trouble, McKay turned back in his seat and retook control of the jumper. His face as stern as could be, at least for a couple of seconds.

Then he caught the sight of Teyla doubling over in her chair with laugher. McKay snorted, and finally gave in as he too started laughing.

Ronon and Sheppard just sat with their arms crossed over their chest and their heads tucked into their shoulders, both severely embarrassed.

::-:little later:-::

McKay stared down into the holed, it seemed to go on forever. Nothing but darkness swirled at the edges of the unnatural break of the planet's crust. It was almost impossible to imagine that an entire city rest down there. Stretching for miles on end, supported only by the faith in the strength of the planet's own earth.

It was an amazing concept, and McKay smirked at the engineering of the people. It was one of the interesting things the man had learned about the facility. True, the balcony was all Ancient, but the people of the planet had been the one's to construct the city below.

"Shame it worked too well," the man mumbled to himself, standing up from his crouched position near the opening.

Taking one more glance down the hole at his destination, McKay let out a sigh and turned to head back over to the small group gathered around the puddle jumper. They had landed nearly an hour ago and were going over the last few details that needed to be addressed.

It had only been about twenty-minutes since Ramierez and his crew finished cutting through the ceiling of the underground city, and McKay was anxious to get down there. After all, Teyla had assured him, convinced him was more accurate, that going back to the that balcony was their only hope.

Seeing as the tunnels were completely blocked, Weir did not hesitate to give the order to tear open the earth. In just a few short minutes, McKay would be lowered down through the hole by way of harness. He would then swing over the railing of the balcony and assist the others as they were lowered.

Shaking his head, the scientist shook off a sudden shudder. Something wasn't right, he knew that. Although Teyla had been confident in the fact that once they were on the balcony, everything would fix itself, McKay didn't like this sudden feeling of forbidding coming from the city below.

It was as if the facility was warning him.

But there was more than that; Teyla was lying to him. Not completely, flat out lying… but she was hiding something, he could see it. She might've been a stone wall, but when you have the control of a seven year old your face tends to be more expressive. Unfortunately, McKay didn't want to press the matter, already feeling the girl was a bit disconcerted over her organ failure.

Shaking his head more slowly this time, McKay began to tromp back the small troop of marines and medics.

Seeing their friend coming, the children grew excited. They stood on the benches of the open jumper and called out to him, all smiles and confidence. _Wish some of that would rub off on me_, the man thought bleakly, trying his best to return their excitement.

Teyla settled a little as he drew closer to the jumper, her body clearly weaker than it had been while flying here. _Damn_, McKay swore, wondering how much time they'd have to fix this whole mess before it was too late.

Sheppard never sat down, not even as McKay reached the edge of the ten or so men surrounding the children. The young boy just kept bouncing and bouncing. Obviously his body had yet to begin its little fall. Then there was Ronon. The Satedan had given up on his silent act. As soon as they had landed the former runner was all gab chittering with Teyla and Sheppard. It had surprised McKay, seeing as Ronon usually confined himself to eleven words a day.

Smiling a bit at that thought, McKay managed to squeeze past the crew workers and the medics monitoring his three charges. Some moved out of the way seeing him, but one stubborn nurse didn't budge from her sentry over Teyla.

"Are we going now?!" Sheppard asked, his voice high with excitement. As much as he loved getting away with sticking gum under Weir's desk and badgering Carson into convincing McKay it _was_ a good idea to feed them sweets and cookies for lunch, he was eager to get back to his grown-up self.

"Yeah, we've been waiting long enough," Ronon mumbled, crossing his arms as he sat on the bench. McKay knew the boy was just as eager to be all grow-ed up again. The Satedan missed always having a weapon at his side and being allowed to spar with the marines. After all, there were only so many times you could beat up McKay before he just gave up five minutes into each round and let ya use him as a punching bag.

"You all set Uncle Rodney?" Teyla's sweet voice called after the others as McKay disappeared behind some of the crates left over from the cleanup crew. As the man shuffled about, the young girl hopped down from her perch on the bench, the kind nurse by her side when she swayed a little.

Teyla wasn't quite ready for what she had to do, nor did she want to tell the others what they had to do. She would certainly miss sitting in McKay's lap and buttering Sheppard and Ronon into doing stuff for her.

Teyla's face softened at that thought. She took in a shaky breath, suddenly feeling very scared and very alone. None of them knew yet, and they wouldn't. Not until she was sure they couldn't change their minds or try to convince her there was another way. She knew better, and she hoped they would forgive her after today.

Holding back the tears that wanted to over take the poor girl, Teyla put on the most eager face out of all of them as McKay reappeared from behind the crates, holding some lining and a harness. "Ready?" he asked, and at the nods from all three children, Mckay pushed back into the crowd, Ramierez taking the line and harnesses from McKay to get them set up, and headed for the hole. Sheppard, Ronon, and Teyla in tow.

…

"Now what?" Ronon grunted. It had only taken about ten minutes to get the children down to the balcony. McKay actually found himself thanking God that they didn't decide a harness suspended hundreds of feet in the air was as amusing as Sheppard had thought. In fact, Ronon practically got himself to the railing and Teyla didn't struggle one bit in hooking her legs onto the railing.

They had come down by way of harness and rope. Thanks to Ramierez and his team, everyone was lowered safely over the city. McKay had no help getting over the railing, but managed after a few good swings. Then the man had literally caught each of his teammates as they too were lowered and swung towards the balcony. Of course, Ronon needed no help, and Teyla little.

However, Sheppard had decided that swinging over the city was more fun that trying to change them back. McKay had to cling himself to the boy's legs in order to slow him down. This nearly caused himself to be dragged over the railing, and it gave Sheppard quite a scare. But for now, they were all safe behind the railing and back on that odd balcony.

Nothing had changed drastically. The lights still illuminated the small facility, even if they had gone out over the now dark city. The pedestals were in tack and the consoles beeped happily at sensing gene carriers. The only drastic change that McKay noticed was that the once open doorway was blocked by rocks and debris, some of it trickling into the room.

"I don't know," McKay stated rather bluntly, looking towards Teyla. So far he had been just following what the little girl said. She seemed determined and like she knew what she was doing. He still wondered at how she had convinced Beckett to stay behind and how she knew so much. It seemed like Teyla had a little epiphany over night.

After the girl had suggested going back to the planet in the infirmary, there was a whole uproar from Carson over her current condition. Teyla didn't flinch as he said it wasn't going to happen, a little more creatively than needed. The seven year old Athosian just waited from him to be done, and so did McKay. As soon as the Scot had stopped talking, the astrophysicist popped out the question of why they needed to return.

Teyla calmly explained the brunt of her dream, saying it felt more like a vision than anything else. It seemed as if she was telling herself to return to the facility. She also said she'd know what they had to do to fix this once they got there. There were several more arguments, and McKay couldn't help but question every little bit of Teyla's "dream".

Finally, Sheppard piped in, and effectively won the argument for his friend. "We're dead if we don't do anything and I'd like to think you'd be willing to take that one last chance to save us." McKay succumbed at that and said they'd need Weir's permission first. However, Beckett wasn't convinced and was about to scold McKay for being such a softy.

Teyla beat him though, asking her babysitter to go to Weir now. McKay did as asked, still a bit stunned from the death sentence Beckett seemed to give the three children. Ronon and Sheppard were at his side at once, not wanting to leave the man at the moment. Teyla thanked the Ancestors for that and then turned to a very agitated and worried Beckett.

McKay hadn't heard what she said, but when he got back, Elizabeth in toe, the Scottish doctor seemed resign to do whatever Teyla asked. He even stayed behind on Atlantis. Weir had asked him why, but Beckett didn't answer. Then, as McKay left to get ready to leave, he heard the two speaking in whispers.

Nothing exciting happened after that. Word spread quickly that the team of children was leaving and hopefully coming back as a team of adults. On their way to the armory and jumper bay, the band of five (Major Lorne offering to help until his team went off world) were constantly stopped as people wished them luck and said their goodbyes to the children.

The scientist only became irriated and impatient as every three yards some woman would smile and ruffle Ronon's hair, or a marine would salute Sheppard, or someone would pat Teyla on the shoulder. It took them nearly an hour to get to the jumper and down into the gate room. Before they left, McKay was informed of Ramierez planning to dig a hole above the facility so they could quickly lower the team into the room.

That was when Teyla went off. She took basically tackled McKay and sat in his lap to keep him quiet as she started talking rather quickly over the comm. "No! No he can't dig right above it! That's gonna ruin everything. Only _we_ can enter that room, or else nothing is going to work and we'll be stuck like this!" There was a strain in her voice, and McKay felt like the girl was hiding something. He didn't know what, but he had felt like this ever since they picked her up to go searching for Ronon and Sheppard.

Weir tried to calm her down, as Teyla continued her protest. After a few loud moments, Weir sent the order through for Ramierez to dig as close as he could to the facility, but directly above any portion of the balcony. The Athosian child finally backed off at this and settled back into her own seat. When it looked like she had calmed down fully, McKay gave her shoulder a quick grip, earning him a smile, then sent the puddle jumper through the wormhole.

Now here they were. Standing about an Ancient room, waiting for their next instructions. Teyla seemed a little lost though, slowly stepping away from the balcony and glancing at the pedestals. She moved to the one she had occupied and stood within the circle on the floor. The girl's head barely reached the height of the console, and Teyla looked deterred at that. Glaring at the pedestal for a few more moments, the Athosian gave a dejected sigh and turned to her friends.

Teyla started a little, seeing the three pair of questioning eyes staring at her intently. Did they know? No, of course not. Realizing, they were waiting for her to say or do something, Teyla relaxed a bit and then promptly sat down on the floor. Crossing her legs, the girl just fit inside the engraved circle. "We wait," was the answer she offered up to them.

"What?!" McKay asked, grimacing to hide his confusion. Teyla didn't flinch, her face innocent and her eyebrows raised as if to ask why he was confused. "We just wait? No, no nothing is that easy for us. Isn't there more we have to do? More _I_ have to do."

Teyla shrugged, "You're welcome to look at the consoles if you want. Just don't try to do anything to them please. I know it seems… odd, but trust me okay? Oh," Teyla turned to Sheppard and Ronon, who were just as equally bewildered as McKay, "Could you two join me on the pedestals? It needs all three of us to work."

Teyla seemed to have matured a couple of years in the past few minutes. Though… McKay noticed she was appearing more tired.

Teyla smiled happily as Sheppard and Ronon moved to sit at the base of the pedestals they had stood on a little more than five days ago. They didn't ask questions, they didn't whine, they just did what she asked. Teyla liked that, but she also found it a bit disconcerting. She knew her body was dying faster now, and she had hoped her friends would have a little more time than her. However, it seemed like the facility was working fully, based on the drooping eyes of the two boys.

Letting out another sad sigh, the Athosian didn't wait until they were sitting before she turned to McKay. "Uncle Rodney," her voice was soft now, loosing the edge it had had since she awoke from the infirmary. Yes, this place was doing its job. Even if it wasn't the job the Ancient's intended it to do. "I don't think you should be standing there when they sit down."

McKay had been watching them all carefully, a hint of fear in his eyes. His shoulders were slumped a little. He had brought a pack with him, but had tossed the thing across the floor to one of the consoles after unhooking his harness. Now he glanced at it, then turned his eyes back on his three teammates. Both Ronon and Sheppard were waiting to sit down, having heard Teyla's warning.

"Right, right, right, I'll just stand over there then? Let me know what I… can do," the last words were a bit of a whisper. Teyla wanted to leap from her spot and hug the man, sensing that currently the scientist felt useless. But she stayed her urge and gave McKay a nod as he moved over to his pack. "You sure you know what you're doing?" the scientist couldn't help himself, looking over his shoulder at the little girl.

"Yes Uncle Rodney, I think I do. Remember? You said nothing would hurt me if you were here. I believe we'll be safe," Teyla gave him a big smile. To her utter delight, McKay smiled back, nodded, and leaned against one of the consoles. He kept his smile as he crossed his arms and watched his teammates.

"Okay," Teyla said, looking back at Sheppard and Ronon. The two boys gave small smiles, then sat crossed leg as she did. Teyla rested against her pedestal and waited.

A few moments of silence went by, and the air of the room became itchy. Ronon was squirming a bit by his pedestal, and Sheppard was looking around, still waiting for something to happen. McKay had his laptop out and was interfacing with the console. Clearly, something was expose to happen already.

Sheppard leaned forward from his seat and looked at Teyla. The girl had relaxed and her eyes were closed. She looked… patient. "Hey!" Sheppard called, waking Teyla from her trance. "When this thing gonna kih-"

McKay forgot his laptop and jumped from surprise as a white light enveloped the three children. It was unexpected and not as bright as before. McKay watched, standing several feet away from the console know, and waited. He couldn't do anything at the moment, and it seemed he hadn't been able to do _anything_ since last they came here. He hated it, but he had become slightly excited when Teyla had beamed with confidence a few moments ago.

Was this it? Was the thing working? Were they going back to normal?

McKay just stood there, frozen. The beam didn't go away nor did the children disappear. It just hummed and wavered over the shady figures within it. Finally, when the light subsided, McKay held his breath and closed his eyes. Then the humming stopped and he could see the world get a little darker beyond his eyelids. Still reluctant to open his eyes, McKay slowly cracked one open.

Just as he did so, a familiar voice echoed in the room, "What's the big idea Teyla?!" It was Sheppard's voice, but not the one he had been hoping for. Instead of the deep tone of a grown man, it was the high pitchy one of a seven year old boy.

"It didn't work," Ronon grumbled. His voice was deeper than Sheppard's, but still held the young tone of a child.

Opening his eyes all the way now, McKay felt a wave of disappointment wash over him as the three children sat before their pedestals. They all seemed very, very weary and weak. A knot of worry began to form in the man's stomach. The machine hadn't worked, and time was running out. It was really beginning to look like he'd have to do something. _Guess nothing's ever easy for us_, McKay thought.

"No," Teyla's voice was little more than a whisper, successfully catching the scientist's full attention. "It did work, look," with a shaky hand, Teyla pointed from her spot. McKay was already moving over to the little girl when his eyes followed her arm, leapt from her finger, and towards the rail…ing.

"What…?" McKay said softly, now staring at a completley solid metal wall. When did that happen? He hadn't heard anything. If the railing was like that… McKay did a one-eighty and looked towards the main entrance. The door was no longer blocked by debris, but instead a metal wall just like the one that had taken the railing's place.

"What did you do?" McKay managed to get out, not understanding, and not liking it at all.

"I… did… what I was… expose to…" Teyla's words barely made it out of her between gasps of air. McKay's whole attention was back on the child. Ronon and Sheppard did not miss out on the fading Athosian's tone. They too were scampering from their seats and around the pedestals in seconds.

McKay fell down to one knee beside Teyla. He took her hand in his… when did it get so cold? The girl's eyes were barely open and all energy seemed to have been drained from the young girl. Sweat broke her brow and the small chest of the Athosian struggled to rise with each wheezing breath. McKay noticed that the pedestal was the only thing keeping Teyla from falling over.

"Teyla…" McKay whispered the name, feeling that if he said it too loud the little girl would just be whisked away. "Are you all right?" But Teyla didn't answer, she just wrestled with her lungs, forcing as much air into them as she could. Shaking his head, McKay couldn't believe what was happening. Teyla really was dying and a lot faster than he wanted or expected.

Pulling the girl up into a sitting position, Sheppard lending a hand while Ronon stayed quiet and still, McKay moved to be on his knees beside the girl and scooped her into his arms. Teyla didn't move or make a sound, her body limp in her friend's grip. Resting her head in the crook of his elbow, McKay made sure she was comfortable.

Teyla managed a smile, her tired eyes looking up to McKay. The man seemed lost, his own pale eyes solely for her, and yet never focusing. She was so sorry for doing this to him, but it had to be done. Letting her smile fade away, she wanted to voice her apology. Gathering what strength she had left, Teyla whispered, "I'm sorry."

McKay appeared surprised at this. His eyes grew wide for a second, then grew soft as he struggled with the words in his mouth. "Sssh, you don't have anything to be sorry for. So it didn't work, that's not your fault. Listen, I'll fix it, I'll fix it, then we'll try again. Okay?" There was a pleading tone to his words and Teyla didn't like it.

Frowning even deeper, the girl snuggled against McKay's chest and reached up as if to wrap her arms around his neck. Seeing this, the scientist pulled her closer and Teyla succeeded in looping her arms around him. She then buried her face in his shoulder and mumbled. "But it did work. That's what I'm sorry about." McKay held her closer, and she felt the tears stinging her eyes, not holding back the remorse any longer, "You should've stayed behind. I shouldn't have made you go through this… but I'm glad you're here too… is that wrong?"

Utter bewilderment struck the faces of everyone else in the room. "Teyla-" Sheppard began, reaching out for his friend. As if sensing his hand, Teyla only hunched her shoulders and buried her head further into McKay's shoulder.

"I'm sorry! I- I just did what I knew was right!" She was sobbing now, her body trembling as muffled cries filled the silence of the room. "I don't want to die…" She whispered, this time pulling herself back a little. She continued to cry, her red eyes looking up into McKay's blue ones. "But I know I have to. We all do…We're not who you think we are… we're not them. We're not your team."

There was no response to that. What did she expect? She hadn't explained anything. She just left them in the dark and now she wouldn't be able to say anything. She felt her body shutting down, her mind getting blurred and she couldn't hold on much longer. "You'll understand… soon enough… you'll understand…"

Her eyes slowly closed and she felt the darkness close around her. There was a soft, older voice in her ear. A reassuring voice from a very familiar woman. _Thank-you_, it said. Teyla smiled softly and her arms slipped from McKay's shoulders.

::-:SGA:-::

"Teyla?!" McKay shook the girl slightly. He felt every muscle in her go limp and panic quickly set in. What the hell was she talking about? They all to die?! "Teyla?" his voice was higher, every little bit of his fear filling that one name. "Teyla please don't do this!" he set the girl down on the floor, being careful of her head as it rolled in his hand. Placing two fingers on her neck, McKay begged and pleaded with whatever ran the universe to find a pulse.

But he didn't. No pulse, no breathing, nothing. Teyla was dead.

McKay felt his hand shaky, his heart twisted, and the knot of worry exploded into full on nausea. Teyla was dead. His fingers traced the outline of her cheek, his eyes not really seeing the body before him. For that was all it was now wasn't it… a body. An empty corpse. Teyla was dead. Pulling his hand away in disgust, McKay swallowed hard and closed his eyes.

_No, no, no_, the man shook his head in disbelief, _no, No, NO! We've made it this far damn it! We've made it this far! _"Everything was expose to be okay. We came, you'd do what you needed to, we'd go home," McKay's voice was just as shaky as his body. He forced his open again and looked down on the still girl. So still, so pale, so… McKay swallowed again, but this time did not look away.

"She's not… I mean she didn't…Teyla?" Sheppard was now on all fours across from McKay. One of the boy's arms was outstretched towards Teyla's body, as if he didn't know what to do or what had happened. His eyes kept darting from McKay to Teyla and then back again. They were brimming with tears, tears that no one would be able to stop if the boy realized his friend was gone. "Shouldn't we… We should-"

McKay didn't say anything, as he suddenly pulled Sheppard close to him and stood up, minding not to come anywhere close to Teyla's body. That's when Sheppard knew, knew what McKay knew. There was nothing anyone could do to save her. She was gone, lost, beyond their reach. Sheppard didn't hold back as McKay hugged the boy to his chest, slowly walking towards Ronon, who had curled in on himself.

"I know, I know," McKay hushed, not really sure why. It just felt like the right thing to do at the moment, his large hand stroking Sheppard's head. The boy was full on crying now, his head buried into the man's neck and his small arms never wanting to let go of the scientist.

McKay sighed, holding back his own grief for the moment. After all, he still had to take care of the other two. At least, he could save them.

Slowly, McKay kneeled down and lowered Sheppard onto the floor next to Ronon. The small Satedan sat with his knees to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. The boy's face was lost as he rested it in his arms, his mane like hair bristling out. Gently prying Sheppard's arms from around his neck, McKay placed a supporting hand on Ronon's shoulder. Ronon flinched away, and McKay pulled back, a little hurt at the movement.

Sighing, McKay turned back to Sheppard and stroked the boy's face, wiping away some of the tears. The boy's cries were heart wrenching and it was becoming increasingly difficult for McKay to hold back his own. "Hey, I need you to calm down okay? I need to get us out of here, but first I have to figure how to turn you two back to yourselves. That's what Teyla wanted right?" At the mention of the girl's name, Sheppard managed to choke down his sobs, but he still shivered as it all threatened to bubble up again.

Sniffling, Sheppard nodded silently, understanding that McKay still had work to do and when he worked he needed to concentrate. Not wanting to be a burden to his friend any longer, Sheppard swallowed another wave of pain and sat closer to Ronon. Nodding to show he understood.

"That's a boy," McKay said, cuffing Sheppard's check in his hand. "I'll be back in a few minutes. I need you to stay here and keep still. Let me know when you start to feel sick okay?" Sheppard managed another nod. "Good… good," McKay's energy was starting to fade. He knew the children were tired and it seemed as if the past five days were finally catching up to him.

Rubbing his face with one hand, McKay gave the two boys a once look over before he stood and headed back over to Teyla. He could only stare sadly at her body for a few quiet moments. He was too late to save her… but he wasn't too late to save the others. "I'm sorry," he whispered, taking off his coat and crouching down beside the girl.

Gently wrapping Teyla's body with his coat, McKay picked her up and moved her to one of the empty corners, far, far away from him and the boys.

As McKay let Teyla's head slip from his hand, a raspy voice drifted over to him. "We're next aren't we?" McKay turned around, still crouching, and grimaced as he caught Ronon's dark eyes. The boy looked more worn than them and the whites of his eyes were red from him rubbing them to stop the tears.

When McKay didn't say anything, Ronon took that as a confirmation and placed his head back into his arms. Shaking his head back and forth, Ronon seemed on the breaking point. McKay wasn't use to seeing this side of his friend. Ronon was usually the strongest when faced with death. He caught it full on and thrust it back at the forces of the world. But this… Ronon seemed defeated.

"I started to feel sick after we landed," Ronon confessed, "I didn't tell anyone 'cuz I didn't want to think about it." McKay finally understood what had gotten Ronon so talkative. "I don't want to die!" Ronon pulled away from his hands fully, his eyes holding McKay where he was. There was only fear in those eyes, pure and unadulturated fear. "I don't wanna be just a body! I want to live! I-I-" Ronon's breath caught in his throat and the tears finally came.

McKay almost felt embarrassed at seeing the boy like this. It was just wrong. This wasn't Ronon, not the Ronon he knew. No, this was Ronon with the mind of a seven year old child. Scared, confused, terrified of what was happening.

"I'm not going to let you die," McKay said firmly. Holding Ronon's gaze. He tried to embark confidence and courage. It seemed to work a little, as Ronon didn't look away. "I'm going to fix this, and I'm going to get you home." McKay was now standing and moving towards the console where his computer blipped with information. "I should've done that the minute this whole damn thing started." McKay's words were filled with anger and determination.

The two boys just watched him from their spots on the floor. Neither sure what to do or what to say. Everyone was a bit knocked around, no one really making heads or tails of what was going. But one thing was for sure, McKay would find out. The only question was, would he find out before it was too late?

::-:TBC:-::

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_Seriously?_


	11. Too Damn Stupid

**Disclaimer:** Ask and you shall receive.

**A/N:** Thank-you oh so very much for your reviews. Okay, part II of chapter 10. ^-^ Glad you got this far w/out dying on me. =P Oh, very odd to write while listening to "Happy Ending" by Mika.

P.S. Sowwy for the late update! I got Fable 2, Left 4 Dead, Army of Two, Mirror's Edge, Gears 2, and Fall Out 3 for Christmas sooo…

P.S.S. Sowwy if it ain't that good. I was kinda like low on sugar, so… oh and the next chapter is better! So hopefully that makes up for this one. =P

* * *

::-:SGA:-::

**Chapter 10 Part II: Too Damn Stupid**

The soft chinking of tools and the occasional curse slurred in French were the only noise that broke the usual dead silence of the Ancient facility. It had been like this for the past three hours, ever since Teyla had passed on.

So far, McKay was having no luck with the machine nor any of the consoles. His frustration showed more and more as he tried to figure out how it worked and how to reverse it.

Sheppard sat as far away from the coat covered corpse of his friend, his knees hugged to his chest and his chin gently wresting on wrapped arms. Next to him, Ronon lay silently sleeping. The Satedan child had settled down two and half hours ago and promptly fell asleep. Sheppard looked down to his friend, almost smiling at how deep the larger boy could sleep. Ronon never moved, just stayed curled up like that.

Sighing, Sheppard kept watching the boy as his mind wandered through the past days' events. He smiled at remembering how reluctant McKay had been to take care of them at first, but seemed to want nothing else as the day grew older. Watching the sunset that first day was perfect and Sheppard wished the four of them could do it again. Though, he wasn't stupid. He knew Teyla was gone and that nothing would ever be the same.

It was kind of eerie thinking about returning to Atlantis without the Athosian by his side as they stepped through the event horizon. Things were going to be awkward for a while after this, and Sheppard only hoped everything could go back to normal soon.

As it was, Sheppard didn't even know how long they'd been down here other than what McKay told him. And Sheppard didn't dare interrupt the scientist as he worked on the machines, not unless he desperately needed to know something. McKay was deft in his work and only if you knew the man as Sheppard did would you see that this facility was getting the better of him.

Sighing, Sheppard looked up to where his friend was. The boy could barely see past the pedestals in front of him, but he could just make out McKay's legs, the only part of the scientist not deeply embedded into the console.

Closing his eyes as another wave of dizziness came over him, Sheppard tried not to focus on the fact that his vision was blurry, his body ached, and his stomach felt like it was tumbling down a hill. He had grown considerably sicker and sicker with each passing minute. It had started shortly after Ronon fell asleep and had grown almost unbearable when he stopped trying to use the radio an hour ago. Now he could barely keep himself sitting, but he didn't want to voice his concerns. After all, it wasn't near time for him to die yet.

Ronon was still alive, and although it disturbed him to think of it this way, Sheppard knew his body wouldn't fail completely until after the larger boy's passing. _But McKay's going to have it all fixed before then_, Sheppard thought to himself, ignoring the sudden knot that had formed in his stomach. _He always fixes it just in time._ Sheppard then hugged his knees closer to his chest, suddenly not feeling as safe as he should've.

Looking back down to the Satedan curled up next to him, Sheppard thought his friend lucky to be able to sleep through all of this. Sheppard didn't think he would be able to take a nap while the weight of death was ever pressing down on him. Ronon had seemed too frightened earlier. Reflecting not only his own fears, but the ones of Sheppard as well, into those tearing eyes. How did the Satedan manage to push those from his mind long enough to fall asleep?

Scrunching up his face in scrutiny at his friend, Sheppard just stared at Ronon. Then a cold hit Sheppard like a slap to the face and the boy knew something was wrong. The sudden urge to wake up Ronon overwhelmed his sickness, and Sheppard uncurled from himself and placed a hand on the Satedan's shoulder.

"Ronon? Ronon! Ronon, wake up!"

But Ronon didn't stir.

Shaking his friend, Sheppard continued to call as his stomach knotted and twisted horribly. "Ronon! RONON!"

Sheppard pushed the boy onto his back and stared down at the still features of the Satedan's face. Fear gripped him as he realized how cold Ronon was beneath his touch, and Sheppard didn't even struggle as someone pushed him aside and touched two fingers to the child's neck.

Sheppard sat there dumbly on the floor, his arms on either side shaking as they struggled to keep him up. _Damn, when did I get so weak?_ Sheppard's eyes were unfocused and barely took in the site of McKay leaning of Ronon with his head bowed. Then those pale blue eyes looked away from the still child and turned to him. In McKay's eyes, Sheppard saw what he had feared… Ronon had passed on.

Taking in a sharp breath, Sheppard felt suddenly cold and alone in the silent facility. He closed his eyes as the grief of loosing yet another friend crept into his heart and mind, consuming him.

Sheppard let out a strangled sob, not fully crying and yet unable to keep calm. Then the cold was brushed away as warm arms wrapped around his body and picked him up. Not thinking, Sheppard gripped McKay's shirt blindly in tiny fists and pressed his face hard against the scientist's chest, letting out all his fears.

::-:SGA:-::

McKay didn't dare let go of the boy strapped to chest. He was afraid of loosing the child, just like he had lost Teyla and now Ronon. The Satedan had obviously died in his sleep, at least spared the frightful and taxing last moments awake as his body failed.

McKay briefly wondered if the Satedan people believed in an after life or even worshipped a god. He really didn't remember Ronon mentioning anything about it, and it appeared as if the Satedan people valued the honor of their soldier's more than anything.

Carrying Sheppard in his hands, McKay realized he would never know now. And why? Because he had been too late once again. Too late to fix the problem, too late to help, too damn stupid to save a child, a friend. All he could do was watch, wait, and comfort the living.

Now, he didn't even know how much time Sheppard had left. Ronon's body was frighteningly cold and he could've died up to two and a half hours ago.

Shivering, McKay stepped over the boy's body and started heading back for the console he had been working on. The "guts" of the machine hung out over the opened edge, squiggling like strewn spaghetti. Red, blue, green, yellow, white, all different colors. McKay cursed the Ancients at that moment, for he had gotten no closer to saving anyone since he had begun working.

Placing Sheppard down gently next to the torn up console, the scientist crouched before the still whimpering boy. Cupping his friend's face with one hand, McKay wiped away some of the stray tears with his thumb. Something he had done to Teyla only forty-eight hours ago. The simple touch seemed to help Sheppard calm down a bit.

"Hey now, it's okay… it's okay. I'm gonna figure this out and I'm gonna turn you back. Alright? I'm not gonna give up until I figure it out," well, he sure as hell wasn't reassured by that and by the looks of it, neither was Sheppard.

The boy still shivered and sniffled back tears as he sat on the stone floor before him. However, Sheppard seemed to calm a little and tried his best at a smile, but it came out as a grimace instead.

Patting Sheppard on the arm gently, McKay moved back to working on the console. Although there was little hope for it.

Cursing the Ancients for the umpteenth time and settling back into position, McKay went over everything he had learned about the piece of engineering. Apparently, the designers liked fooling with people and leading them into traps, because the color of the wires weren't even remotely connected to what they did. A power cable could be red, while another just like it was bright pink.

Then there was the fact that most of the wires were fake, strung up like streamers just to make the whole thing look complicated when it was probably quite simple underneath. Half of the wires ended in a glob of glue against the inside of the panel or were hooked up to unnecessary parts. One such wire almost made the scientist laugh, if not for his frustrated anger, because it seemed to power an automated cup holder which popped out of the wall.

Yet the faulty wiring was not the only thing wrong with the console, oh no the Ancients would not stop there with their little tricks. Most of the crystals were shot, fake, unnecessary, or draining too much power.

Put all three together and it was a scientist's worst nightmare. Nothing could be figured out and only the blatantly obvious functions could be accessed with the little amount of information the facility had allowed McKay's laptop to download. As far as McKay was concerned, the whole thing was a floop. He wasn't sure that even if he had an entire science team with him that he could figure out how to reverse the effects of the pedestals in less than three months.

Still, he had to try to figure something out. He had already lost two teammates and he was now more determined than ever to save the last. To save his best friend and leader, John Sheppard.

…

"I don't feel so good," Sheppard whispered, his body pitching forward from the wall. McKay moved quicker than he thought he could, catching the small body of the boy in his arms right before his friend crashed to the hard floor. "I don't… I…" Sheppard's voice was weak and small and McKay had to strain to hear as he tried to tell him what was wrong.

"It's okay it's okay you're okay you're okay," McKay panicked, kneeling on the floor and cradling Sheppard in his arms. He never thought the colonel could look so small, feel so light. Supporting his friend's head in the crook of his arm, McKay found his eyes scanning the boy up and down as he lay limply in his arms. Everything was going wrong, oh so wrong. He hadn't been able to figure anything out in the past few hours, only more useless history on the device streamed into his laptop. Now, he was afraid he had been too slow.

"Sorry," Sheppard whispered, bringing McKay's thoughts back to the boy quite literally dying in his arms. "Sorry… I thought… I could hang on," Sheppard's soft words came between gasps for air, just like Teyla's had. "Thought… thought I…"

"Hey, you know, you did your best," McKay said, feeling a knot growing in his stomach and a false smile very much trying to part on his lips. "Besides, I should be the one… you know, to… I wasn't fast enough."

Sheppard's eyes squinted in confusion before relaxing back to only being half closed. God he looked exhausted. "No… you did your… best. Remember… I said you'd fix… this. Somehow… I think… Teyla was right… It feels like… I have to go." Sheppard took in another long, ragged breath, trying to keep his body working until he got to say his goodbye. McKay would have none of it though.

"No, no, no, this isn't how it works!" the scientist held back from yelling, but he desperately wanted to. "We're here, I'm here, I've got to figure it out! I can fix this, I can. There's still time, you're still okay, they're still okay-"

"McKay," Sheppard smiled a little as the man instantly shut up, "You're rambling." McKay's eyes widened with audacity for a second, then a short laugh came from the man and a snort of amusement.

Shaking his head, McKay pulled the boy closer to his chest, he could feel the small tremors racing through his friend's body as he tried to fight for life. He had been too late, he knew that. Sheppard was going to die right here, right now. It was all going to end, right there, right then. The past few years seemed to have happened for naught. Every mission, every new encounter, every memory burned in McKay's heart and he caught his tears before they fell.

"_That was a Hail Mary!"_

"_This is why parents get someone else to teach their kids how to drive."_

"_Way to survive what may be my worst nightmare."_

"_Yes, Rodney, I shot you, and I said I was sorry."_

"_In a way a friend feels about another friend."_

"_He asked me to trust him."_

"Crap," Rodney looked down at the source of the small squeak. Sheppard was looking up at him, a sly grin on his face. McKay furrowed his brow at this, pursing his lips as he thought what on Earth had prompted the grin. Sheppard just let out a short laugh, his body shaking with the effort, "You're crying."

McKay pulled his head back and blinked a few times, recognizing the wet on his cheeks for the fist time. He was crying, and he hadn't even realized it. Settling Sheppard further into the crook of his arm, McKay released one hand on his friend and bunched up the sleeve of his long shirt. Rubbing his eyes, McKay offered up a soft apology. "Sorry, didn't mean to."

"It's okay… wish I could… just… take care of yourself," with that, Sheppard buried his face into the man's chest, his arm coming up and gripping onto the front of McKay's shirt as tightly as he could. The scientist looked down, watching as small hands curled into a fist, stretching the blue material of the shirt. Then, the fingers relaxed, the hand fell, and Sheppard lay still in his arms.

Biting his lip, trying to force himself to hold back, McKay leaned forward, pulling Sheppard's body close, and began rocking the boy back in forth as his body trembled, fighting the grief that took hold of his heart. Holding the boy close, McKay ignored the bright light that enveloped the room.

::-:TBC:-::

* * *

_Next, the conclusion..._


	12. It's Been Fun

**Disclaimer:** Look at us we're beautiful

**A/N:** Last chapter! Thanks everyone for reading and I hope to see some of you at my next story "Joro Risastor" when I post it in a week. Oh! And all your reviews just make my day!

Enjoy!

* * *

::-:SGA:-::

**Chapter 11: It's Been Fun  
**

He couldn't remember much. Didn't really try to though. After his hands had pressed against the ovals on the pedestal, everything just kind of went white. It was a burning and confusing white and it seemed to consume his world for days. It seemed as if he had waited forever for that light to fade away. When it did, it didn't bring the reprieve he was hoping for. No, it only brought more pain and sickness.

He vaguely recalled finding himself on a cold, metal floor, his back against the pedestal. In fact, the pedestal was the only warmth he found in the room, everything else just felt… dead. Not really feeling the strength to move, Sheppard had tried to figure out where he was and what the hell had happened, but only more confusion and dizziness came.

Keeping his eyes closed to stave off the eventual consequence of his stomach's cart-wheeling, Sheppard just listened. It sounded dark and silent within the vicinity and a low hum emanated from the pedestal behind him. It was a disconcerting hum and the colonel wished it would stop.

Then, faintly, beyond the hum and the darkness, Sheppard heard another sound. This one was foreign and disturbing in a way. Sheppard didn't like it, he wanted it to stop and yet he couldn't think to do anything except listen. Listen to the soft, mournful sobs that echoed in the quiet room. Listen to the wrenched heart that tried and failed at keeping its grief to itself.

There was a voice behind those sobs and Sheppard concentrated on it. He thought hard about the small, whimpering voice as it cracked between the soft and silent sobs. It's words were forced and the owner of the voice seemed unsure that they themselves believed in what they were saying.

Finally recognizing the voice, Sheppard tried once again to open his eyes. He could only manage to make out a blurry figure, hunched and cradling something to its chest. Opening his lips, Sheppard tried his sore throat, "Rodney?" he croaked.

The figure stopped rocking back and forth on its knees and slowly drew up its head. Pale blue eyes broke the black on the edges of Sheppard's vision and a small smile appeared on the scientist's lips. Sheppard tried to say something else, but his world was plunged back into darkness.

::-:SGA:-::

"I still don't think ye should've let 'im go."

"Kate reasoned it would do him more good than harm, and I agree. He needs this."

"Still… so soon afterwards?"

"I know, but he needs closure. I think it'll help him face them when he gets back."

"Aye, poor lad," There was a loud sigh and the voices continued on like this, even as his cloudy mind began to rise once again from the blessing of unconsciousness.

Scrunching up his face, Sheppard slowly opened his eyes, not really trusting the space around him to be dark. Sure enough, he was flooded with bright, florescent lights as soon as his two lids were apart. Wincing, Sheppard tried again and managed to blink away most of the light as the infirmary on Atlantis came into view.

"Colonel?" a familiar and concerned voice filled his mind and Sheppard tried to sit up as his head turned to the right.

"It is good to see you up," Teyla smiled warmly down at him, sitting up in her bed. She looked as tired as he felt. Her normally neat hair was gruffly put in a ponytail, hairs sticking out every which way. She was adorned in the usual hospital scrubs and the scratchy sheets on her bed were scrunched away from her crossed legs.

"Teyla," Sheppard croaked out, finally pulling himself up into a sitting position. "What happened? Are you okay?" Sheppard's thoughts suddenly turned to his other teammates, "Is everyone else alright?" The colonel itched his body further up and looked around the infirmary almost frantically, trying to find the other two.

"I believe we are all unharmed for the most part. I have a slight headache, but nothing more. How are you feeling John?" Teyla leaned over a little more, her eyes catching and holding the colonel's own hazel orbs.

Deflating a little at not being able to find the others, Sheppard thought to check himself over. Two arms, two legs, one head… yup his was definitely there if it hurt as much as he thought it did. "Same."

Sheppard then looked over near the infirmary door, the owners of the voices that had awaken him still deep in conversation. The words were more low toned and the two figures of Carson and Elizabeth huddled together as if they were sharing a secret.

"They have been deep in discussion ever since I awoke." Teyla's voice caused Sheppard to snap his head back to look at his friend. At his questioning look, the woman continued, "Elizabeth seems a bit anxious about something and Doctor Beckett is concerned not only about us, but about McKay as well. They keep lowering and raising their voices as the conversation has digressed." Teyla lowered her look a little, as if embarrassed at the fact that she had been listening in.

Furrowing his brow, Sheppard looked to the two before returning a curious look to Teyla.

"What do you mean concerned about McKay? And what happened? I don't remember much," Sheppard stated, his face a scrunching back into a worried look.

Teyla's eyes wandered up to the ceiling for a moment, as if she was trying to recall something. After a few moments of silence, the Athosian shook her head sadly and almost whispered, her voice an apology, "I do not remember much before waking here in the infirmary.

"However, Doctor Weir and Beckett have mentioned a few details about the Ancestral facility we stumbled upon. Apparently, that had some part in what has happened and why we are here. As to why they are worried about Doctor McKay, I am not sure. Though I believe he is off-world at the moment."

Sheppard nodded slowly, feeling a little bit of the worry for the scientist ebbing away. It didn't seem Carson was overly concerned about McKay and if the man was off-world, then he sure wasn't in any danger, plus, if he was, Elizabeth wouldn't be here.

"Okay, so where's Ronon?" Sheppard asked, shrugging as he shook off his earlier question.

At this, Teyla bowed her head a little in a futile attempt to hide the satisfied grin stretching across her face. Learning back, Teyla straightened herself and indicated the bed next to hers. Sheppard snorted, but held back his laughter as he took in the Satedan's appearance.

Ronon's arm was draped across his stomach and his head was tilted back as loud snores erupted from deep within the sleeping monster of a man. Only one leg was tucked under the blankets and the other stuck out unceremoniously off the end of the bed. His other arm lay limply over the bed, a fork loosely gripped in his fingers.

On the floor was an impressive stack of empty trays, bowls, and plates that reached up to the top of the bed.

"Upon waking up, he was hungry. I have yet to see another man consume so much!" Teyla explained, holding back a snort of her own as the image of her friend scarfing down the trays of food once again entered her mind.

Sheppard didn't hold back his laughter this time as Teyla kept on smiling mischievously. "Yeah?!" the colonel exclaimed, his imagination greatly over exaggerating the picture of Ronon eating. "I bet the cooks can't wait till he's up and out of bed." At this, Teyla let out a giggle, no longer being able to hold it back. Sheppard went all out and the infirmary easily filled with their joyous voices.

"Well, well, it seems we're feeling a little better. How are ye Colonel?"

A little startled at the sudden appearance of Dr. Beckett at the side of his bed, Sheppard turned to face the Scot, the last of his laughs fading away and being replaced with a happy smile. "I'm good," the man said, his eyes wandering over the kind doctor's face.

"Good, that's good," Carson said, nodding his head and allowing his smile to fail a little. For a moment all the doctor could do was scan over Sheppard, his gaze sad and hesitant. It was as if the man was looking for something from Sheppard.

"What's the matter?" Sheppard asked, as Teyla also seemed more alert to the doctor's searching eyes.

Snapping out of his trance, Carson tried to replace his lost smile, but faltered and ended up only twitching the side of his mouth. "Oh, nothing. It's just good to see you doing so well. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the three of you at the moment, but I'd like to keep an eye on ye for at least forty-eight more hours. Gotta make sure nothing's gonna go wrong…again." Sheppard had barely caught the doctor's last word, but he had heard it.

"Again?!" Sheppard exclaimed. This time, Teyla was leaning forward, her legs slung over the side of her bed as she stared intensely at the Scot.

Beckett winced, realizing he had said that last bit out loud. Relaxing a bit, the man let out a sigh, having the appearance of someone who had some bad news and didn't really want to share. However, he was a doctor and it was their right to know. "Aye, again. I don't suppose ye remember anything about the past six days, do ya?"

"Six days?! Is that how long we were out?!"

"No, no, I don't think so," Carson held up his hands placating to the colonel, "I barely caught any of Rodney's explanation before he rushed back to that god-awful planet."

"P4R-157," Weir offered up, stepping next to the Scot, a sad smile on her face and her hands clasped behind her back. Beckett gave her the same knowing but sad look that she now held, before covering it up and turning back to the two conscious patients before them.

"How are they doing?" Weir asked, keeping her eyes hovering on the colonel and Athosian woman. Her friends.

"Quite well actually. It doesn't appear that being cooped up as they were had an adverse affects. Although I'll be keepin' them for a little while to make sure," Beckett's demeanor had gone back to a being a little cheery at the news of their health, but Sheppard still saw that small hint of hesitation in the man's gaze.

"Good to hear," Weir now held a full smile that did not reach her eyes as she reached out and patted Sheppard's shoulder. "We worried about you for a moment there-"

"Sorry to interrupt Elizabeth," Sheppard cut in, sitting straighter in his bed and putting on a face that dared any of them to try and distract him any longer. He wanted answers, and he wanted them now. "But do either of you mind telling me what the hell happened? All I know is that I've been conked out for six days and something obviously went wrong during that time!"

Both doctors physically flinched at the colonel's tone, but he didn't really care. If it got them to speak he'd apologize later. Right now, he couldn't give them an inch. Just by the looks of them, he knew they'd skirt around the issue as long as they could and might even get away. "Well?!" he demanded after a few short seconds, swinging his legs off the side of the bed and crossing his arms in a very McKay-ish way.

It was Elizabeth who finally gave in, shooting a few reluctant looks towards Carson before she spoke. Taking in a deep breath, the leader straightened herself and rolled her eyes around as she searched her mind for the right words. "Okay," she finally got out, "guess I should start from when you returned from the planet. Well, it wasn't you… but we didn't know that…"

Elizabeth went on to describe bringing home three children who at first, appeared to be younger versions of the colonel, Teyla, and Ronon, transformed by the Ancient facility. The Athosian moved to sit next to Sheppard on his bed, her hand clasping his shoulder as the woman went into detail about the few days that the children spent on Atlantis and the way McKay took them in. Teyla's grip tightened by the time they got to the worry over the seven year old girl's collapse.

That was when Beckett took over for a bit. He didn't go into too much detail about what had gone wrong and kept to the basics. The Scot seemed to choke a bit when he appeared to be remembering giving the news to the shocked and worried children and a certain astrophysicist.

Then Weir finished, passing on the knowledge of how the child-version of Teyla had been given knowledge about how to fix the transformation. She continued with what she knew from the reports: shortly after McKay and the three children entered the facility, the place locked down and Ramierez and his team were pushed away from the site by a small pulse.

Several hours later, McKay contacted them on the radio requesting a medical team and giving them directions to a hidden door that allowed access to the city by way of puddlejumper. When the crew arrived at the balcony the three children were dead, and they, the real ones, were unconscious and slumped by the pedestals.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Sheppard said, stopping Weir in mid-sentence, "you're saying we died?!"

Elizabeth shook her head at the colonel as a mother would when her child clearly wasn't listening. "No John, _you_ didn't die. Your clones, who we thought were you, died," when Sheppard was about to say something else, the leader raised up a hand to stay him. "Let me explain.

"The balcony you stumbled upon was actually an early version of a cloning facility. There were more rooms and machines hidden behind the stone walls, but ten-thousand years of earthquakes shifted the earth and blocked out the rest from scanners. Based on what McKay's been able to find out, the Ancients helped the people of P4R-157 to escape the Wraith by helping them with the underground city. In return… the people would lend the Ancients some of their greatest scientific mind to move along the cloning facility.

"Originally, the Ancients just wanted to help extend the life of the scientists by creating clones that would retain all of their knowledge and complete decades of work while the scientist remained unaged in the buffer. Then, the clone's memories would be transferred back into the machine and the scientist released to continue their work until the end of their days."

"But it didn't work right, did it?" Sheppard asked, grasping what he could of all the information his mind had just been fed. Elizabeth had been speaking to them for nearly two hours, Teyla remained silent, Beckett uncomfortable, and Ronon only let his presence be known by the occasional snort. The Satedan didn't seem quite ready to rise from his sleep yet.

Weir shook her head, "No, it didn't. In fact, it all went horribly wrong. The clones came out younger and younger each time modifications were made. Soon, the young minds couldn't comprehend the information they had and the bodies of the clones couldn't sustain their form for more than five days before the cells began to deteriorate. Plus, the metal within the facility appeared to speed up the rate at which the clones die. According to Rodney… all three of them began to grow weaker as soon as the cloned Teyla locked down the facility so they couldn't get out before you were released. But in order for that to happen, all the clones had to die. The Ancient gene was the only thing that allowed _your_ clone, John, to survive so long." Elizabeth gave a short nod towards the colonel.

There was a momentary silence, both teammates taking in everything. Sheppard suddenly felt a cold shiver run down his spine as he finally began to recall waking up in the facility to that awful, mournful sound. He realized now, that it was McKay grieving for the loss of all his friends. Rodney had been left alone in that room, thinking the clones were his actual team, and watched as each died one by one.

Looking up into Elizabeth's eyes, Sheppard furrowed his brow and controlled his voice as he asked, "Where's McKay?"

::-:SGA:-::

The shovel hit the soft earth with a thud, successfully planting itself in the small garden. Fresh dirt covered the blade and some of it clung to the wooden handle. When the hand gripping it released, the shovel made to fall backwards, but the dirt successfully caught it.

McKay ran a sleeve over his forehead, wiping away the sweat and dirt that had decided to stick to his head. He let out a heavy breath and rested one hand atop the shovel, the other still touching his head. Looking up, the scientist squinted towards the ceiling, the golden sunlight coming down to shine upon the small patch of earth within the concrete city.

Smiling a bit, McKay drew his gaze away from the blue sky and puffy white clouds. He was aware of the jumper hovering just above the opening in the ceiling and of the people who were without a doubt watching him. Shaking his head, the scientist made a note to give them a lesson on eavesdropping. If they were going to watch from a cloaked jumper, then it was best to do it without proclaiming your intentions over the radio.

Speaking of which, where had he set his? He had no idea where he had put his earpiece after learning of the crew's plan to watch him. Turning to ground before his feet, McKay let out a sad sigh. Maybe it fell and was now buried forever in the alien planet. Now how would he get the jumper to land?

Looking away from the patch of green and brown, McKay scanned the gray building around him. He was sure there weren't any spiders down here and one of the buildings nearby, a three story home, had an access to the roof. He'd just have to wave down the Ancient ship above his head.

Resigning himself to that small plan of action, McKay gripped the shovel with both hands and pulled the tool loose from the moist dirt. Shaking off the few clumps still left on the blade, McKay hefted the thing onto his shoulder and looked once again to the ground before his feet. Smiling sadly as memories flashed behind his eyes, "Well, it's been fun. Who knows, maybe I'll see you again sometime. You never know!" He gave a short laugh, but didn't find the memories any less painful.

Shaking his head, McKay let out a deep, long sigh. "Yeah… I'll come when I can, bring flowers… You know…" Kneeling down, he placed a rough hand on top of the freshly upturned dirt, "I'm sorry. I'll never forget you. Any of you." Standing, McKay gave the earth one last look before turning and walking towards the closest building. His footsteps echoed in the emptiness of the city.

Behind him, three fresh graves lay still in the ground and at the head of the middle grave, lay what looked like a golden, Ancient ray gun.

::-:THE END:-::

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_Thank-you everyone._


	13. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: **We just carried on

**A/N:** Okay, so I got several request for an epilogue or tag. You know, wrap things up. I wanted to add all of this stuff to the story, but couldn't find a place for it and get the ending I wanted. F.Y.I. The ray gun was from chp. 3. I decided it didn't destroy itself. ^-^ Pwease enjoy!

P.S. See! See! Reviews really do make a difference! =D

* * *

::-:hello:-::

**EPILOGUE**

He stood there in the hall, all alone except for the occasional nurse that came out to check up on him. He'd wave them off, saying he was just thinking about what to say. They seemed to buy it and left him alone. Sometimes it was for at least an hour, but other times they were more persistent and came out only ten minutes after they had left. It wasn't easy, but he managed to quell the venomous words that threatened to be thrown at the nurses. _They're just doing Beckett's dirty work_, he mused to himself.

The truth was, he _was_ actually thinking about what to say. He honestly didn't know. For almost a week, he had thought his team were the three, happy, children bouncing all around him. In a way, they were. But now, now his teammates were the three adults, sitting just on the other side of that door. Waiting for him to waltz in there and make things normal.

Yet, McKay found himself more afraid of doing that than anything else. He didn't want to meet them, not yet. He couldn't, it was too soon. Or at least, that's what he told himself. After all, you can't get over watching your friends die in a day! Then again, he couldn't really grieve when here they were. Sitting, waiting, probably staring right back at him through that cold infirmary door.

Shaking his head, the man told himself that wasn't the real reason he was afraid to go in there. He was afraid something else might go wrong. Something might take them away from him again. That, that and, god he knew it was foolish to think, but it felt like if he walked through those doors, than it would be like the three children he had taken care of never existed. That they never had a real purpose in their life; that they were just failed copies, thrown out when they didn't work right. He didn't want to think like this, yet here he was!

Sighing, the scientist pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning on. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to gather up every last shred of courage he had. This was going to be hard. Not hard in that he didn't want to see his team, he really did! It was just… McKay wasn't sure he could actually control his emotions at this point. He was tired, physically and emotionally, and a quick shower and night's rest didn't do him any good.

Looking down at his hands, McKay gave a small laugh when he saw there was still dirt under his short nails. He'd have to scrape that out sometimes. Maybe he could do it now. Looking up hopefully, McKay turned to face down the hall. There was no one here except him. Suddenly, the place felt very lonely, very cold, and very empty. Then there was a slight hiss and a thick brogue destroyed the sense of emptiness. McKay was grateful.

"And what are ye waitin' for lad? They've been askin for ye ever since they woke up. Now I wouldn't keep them waiting if I were you!" McKay turned and couldn't help but smile at Carson as he stood in the door way of the infirmary, both hands planted firmly on his hips, one eyebrow quirked up at the scientist. Then the Scot threw a look over his shoulder, "Especially Ronon. He's getting fidgety."

McKay shook his head slightly, a grin finding its way onto his lips. "Has he eaten yet?"

Beckett seemed to think for a moment, his eyes rolling around searching for the answer. Looking back to Rodney, Beckett held his own grin. "Now that ye mention it, he hasn't, and I don't think I'll let him until ye go say 'hello'." The doctor raised his eyebrows expectantly, as McKay feigned exasperation.

"Guess I better get in there then," McKay asked, a little squeak in his voice as he imagined the rather hungry Satedan munching down on his own arm, patience running out and his stomach demanding meat. After all, they had missed out on six days of eating. That was what, eighteen meals to make up? Considering how much the former runner could consume per sitting, it was probably closer to twenty-five missing meals.

Chuckling at the nonsense of the math, McKay let out a long, sad sigh, his mind accidentally wandering towards the last time he'd walked through those doors. There was another sigh, that matched his own perfectly, then Beckett's hand gently touched McKay's shoulder. Looking up into the bright eyes of his friend, McKay did his best to produce a convincing smile. Carson nodded towards the infirmary, keeping his hand on the man's shoulder.

Taking in a settling breath, the astrophysicist steeled himself and took a step forward. Another step and Beckett let go of his friend as he walked over the threshold of the infirmary.

::-:SGA:-::

He stepped into the building, its gray walls almost black from the darkness within. There was little light escaping into the house, white squares wavering on the floor and walls. It wasn't hard to locate the stairway that would lead him up to the roof. Like so many other homes, this one was simple, abandoned, and square. There were no hidden doors or decorations. Just the walls and the stairs.

Moving through to the second floor, McKay recalled what he had learned about the people who had delved underground to escape the Wraith. They use to be farmers, using the land above. Then, sometime after a culling, some self-proclaimed _genius_ decided to take the whole community underground where it would be safe. In fact, where the city now stands use to be an intricate cavern, branches of caves stretching for miles. They took advantage of this and enlisted the help of their allies, the Ancients.

Shaking his head, McKay moved to cover the last floor and recalled reading what the few survivors of the last culling had written. Apparently, putting your whole population in one place wasn't such a good idea. Especially when you had an opening large enough for several puddle-jumpers to come through. Because that meant that darts could come through as well. Sure enough, almost five generations later, the Wraith came back. They easily disabled and opened the jumper door and culled almost the entire population.

A handful of people escaped, managing to find the Ancient facility and lucky enough that one of them possessed the gene. Then they wandered above when the Wraith had left. In a matter of hours, an entire people were gone and they were left alone. McKay didn't know what happened to those survivors, but he was sure they would've headed for the gate, searching for refuge.

Using the shovel as a lever, McKay pried open the hatch at the top of the stairway. He quickly pressed himself against the wall as the damn thing came flying and clattered down the steps. The noise died away as the hatch finally settled at the bottom. Only giving the rooms around him one last glance, McKay clambered up the last few steps.

Dropping the shovel to the side, the man wiped another sleeve over his head. This time it came back stained with dirt and sweat. McKay let out an annoyed sigh. Then he moved towards the middle of the roof, stopping only to drag the shovel behind him. He didn't really want to take time to sight see from the roof, although he knew he'd get a pretty good view of the city. He just wanted to get home.

"Hey!" he called, looking towards the opening where the sun shone down on the patch of grass around the main building. There was a shimmer within the light, McKay knew the jumper saw him, he also knew both marines were probably debating on whether or not to de-cloak. Shaking his head for the umpteenth time, McKay cupped his mouth with one hand and let the shovel fall as he placed the other on his hip.

"I know you're there! And yes! You are in sooo, much trouble. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get home." McKay waited impatiently for a few short moments, the argument undoubtedly still going on within the Ancient ship. Finally, the two seemed to come to their senses and the vessel rippled into existence.

McKay raised an eyebrow at the sheepish looking Lorne and Ramierez sitting in the two front seats. Lorne had the audacity to give a small wave before turning the jumper around and backing up to the building. McKay rolled his eyes and once again swung the shovel over his shoulder as he neared the edge of the roof. The hatch was lowered and McKay stepped up into the back of the jumper. He tossed the shovel on one bench as the hatch closed behind him.

Lorne stayed facing forward, only giving the peeved scientist a small glance over his shoulder, but trying to focus on flying instead of the sharp eyes in his back. Ramierez was brave enough to turn around and face the physicist as he stood there with his arms tightly crossed over his chest. "Hey doc," the Hispanic gave a short wave. At McKay's glare, the marine hunched his shoulders and slowly turned to mimic Lorne.

Rolling his eyes again, McKay took a seat on the bench across from where the shovel lay. For a few moments he stared at the implement, focusing mostly on the dirt that still clung to the blade persistently. McKay wished to just get home and wash the shovel, wash himself free of the dirt that still clung to his sweat soaked clothes. To scrub until his skin was completely free of anything that remotely came from this planet.

"You okay doc?" it was Lorne's voice that snapped McKay from his thoughts. He looked up to the major, now turned in his seat a little, then past the man to the city still sitting outside their window.

"Just take us home Major," McKay sighed, leaning back in the bench and whispering, "just get me home."

::-:SGA:-::

He stopped, just a few feet from the infirmary door. _What the hell was he doing?_ McKay stood there, a deer in the headlights, his mind frozen, his body equally unmoving. He couldn't think, couldn't breath, couldn't control his heart which suddenly seemed to be the only thing moving at the moment. One thought raced through his head, one little thought that had completely stalled the smartest man in two galaxies. _They're alive._

McKay honestly didn't know what to do, what to say, what to think as his blue eyes stilled on the sight of his three teammates. All of them were piled onto Sheppard's bed, Teyla to the colonel's right, Ronon to the man's left. Teyla sat comfortable at the head of the bed, her legs folded neatly under her. McKay felt the weight on his chest lift a little at seeing the woman smile as Sheppard spoke.

Ronon sat at the foot of the bed, his large legs haphazardly tossed over the edge and swinging slightly, most likely unconsciously. The Satedan's whole focus was on the colonel between them, a happy grin spreading over his face. Vaguely, the image of a tired and frightened child flitted into the scientist's mind.

Then there was Sheppard. The man sat with his back to the scientist, unaware of the happy eyes watching over the three of them. His hands waving a little as he spoke to his friends. When the colonel turned his head, McKay smirked when he saw the large smile on his friend's face. For a moment, he saw the seven year old boy with wild black hair and boundless energy. There wasn't much of a difference, and for that McKay was glad.

Then Teyla's eyes momentarily flicked away from Sheppard, her amusement turning into joy and a little bit of concern as her eyes locked onto the hesitating scientist before her. "Rodney!" she exclaimed, sitting a little taller and allowing her joy to spread to her lips in a wide smile. Instantly, Ronon's eyes turned to the man and Sheppard struggled to turn around, his head moving faster than his body.

"Hey pal, wondered when you were gonna stop by," the colonel said, many questions flashing behind his eyes but a pleased grin playing across his face. He had managed to get himself turned around and threw his legs out like Ronon's.

"Well you know," McKay shrugged, finding it suddenly easy to move again. They were all okay, they were all going to be okay. He hadn't failed, not the way he thought he had. "I was busy. Geniuses are in short supply in the Pegasus Galaxy, in case you didn't notice." McKay stopped just out of arm's reach from the crowded infirmary bed, his arms crossed and his face wearing the first real smile it had shown in the past six days.

Ronon snorted and Teyla tried to hide her own grin. Sheppard rolled his eyes and leaned back a little. McKay let the smugness fall from his smile, just happy to be with his team.

"Believe me, it's hard not to when you're constantly pointing it out," the colonel quipped, a wry grin replacing his momentary look of exasperation. McKay offered a huff and a smirk, then the room lapsed into silence. No one was quite sure what to say, what to ask, what could be said or asked. There was so much to discuss and yet so little. McKay shifted his weight a little at the uncomfortable silence. He should've known it was going to get awkward.

Finally, after two long minutes, Sheppard looked up from where he had been fiddling with his fingers, concern in his eyes as he looked at the physicist before him. "So… how you holding up?"

McKay didn't immediately register the question, slowly meeting his friend's hazel eyes. When his mind clicked, he simply shrugged and glanced over each of his teammates' faces. "As well as one can I suppose. I'm just happy you're all okay. You are okay right?" The little knot of worry in his stomach suddenly made itself known again.

Teyla smiled weakly, leaning forward just a tiny bit to get McKay's attention. "Doctor Beckett has reassured us that there is nothing wrong with our bodies. We will be released from the infirmary in a couple of days and may return to full duty within the week."

McKay nodded, not really sure if he would really accept the diagnosis before the week was up. He'd check with Carson later. As if sensing his doubt, Teyla pouted a little, her bottom lip pushed forward a little and her brow furrowed. It was all McKay could do to stifle the chuckle at how much the woman reminded him of the girl.

"So," Ronon broke, feeling that another moment of awkwardness was coming up, "how badly did my clone beat you?"

McKay snapped all his attention to the Satedan. Ronon's face was a mixture of innocent curiosity and pure mischief. McKay huffed up his chest and furrowed his brow in speculation, "What do you mean?" His words were cautious and suspicious at the runner's intent.

Ronon shrugged, "Sheppard was just telling us what Weir told him about our clones. Said you went one on one with mine. Obviously he won."

McKay sputtered indignantly, "What makes you think I didn't let him win?! Huh? He was a seven year old child."

Ronon snorted again, then his grin grew, "One, he was _my_ clone. And two… he was my clone!" McKay stared incredulously at the Satedan, then his face broke into a smile as the laughter of Sheppard and Teyla broke through his initial shock. Soon he too was bending over laughing and Ronon's own joined in. The infirmary suddenly came alive, the four voices thoroughly enjoying themselves as only a team, once lost, found themselves again could.

::-:goodbye:-::

* * *

_Yeah I know, last line was kinda corny. Here's everyone who reviewed that I didn't get on the last list:_

_Helix589_

_llanea_


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